Shattered Illusions
by Babycakes Nast
Summary: Her goal never was to harm people but to help them to the best of her ability. And if that meant killing those who took advantage of others, she would do it. She'd been doing it for a while now. She just didn't have to be alone anymore. Nor did he. It doesn't mean it would be easy on either of them. Aiden/OC. STORY IN PROGRESS.
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone! Ever since E3 I've had this itch to write something about WATCH_DOGS because it simply looks awesome and I adore Aiden Pearce. There's not a lot of information about the character and the story itself so this is a story completely out of my imagination. I only own my OC. The characters and the world of WATCH_DOGS itself belongs to its rightful owner, Ubisoft. **

**There's not much Aiden in this prologue but this is just a preview of what's to come. I plan on posting the first chapter later today or tomorrow at the latest. Hopefully. We never know with inspiration.**

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_I was in so deep I'd forgotten I could become a target._

_I knew what I was doing could get me in trouble someday but with where I was right now, I honestly couldn't give two shits about it._

I had come in contact with what I thought was my first hacker over three years ago. Maybe four, I can't remember. He introduced himself as T-Bone and I remember wanting to laugh because of the nickname but hearing odd nicknames became all too natural as I met more hackers and his is probably the coolest of them all, so I apologized and he simply laughed. I actually don't really remember how we met exactly but I remember the circumstances. And it wasn't much of an actual meeting.

I'd had this stalker problem for a while and one night I was walking back from work, alone. Obviously. I think I knew in my guts that I had a stalker. He came everyday and was overly nice with me, showering me with compliments every time he saw me. At first it didn't bother me but when the gifts started pouring at my door, it started to creep me out. I'd installed a better security system, bought a dog and made sure all windows and doors were locked before leaving. I even checked every single room in my apartment the moment I entered it every time I came back and right before going to sleep.

To say I had become paranoid would be an understatement. The police department, whom I had told about this problem, said they couldn't do anything unless something happened to me. Physical harm. I'd slumped back into my seat and gave them a list of names, list that was very short. They'd asked me what it was. And I'd answered that it was the list of names they'd have to call when they'd find me, dead or clinging onto life. The officer was shaken, for lack of a better word. He apologized again for not being able to do anything. I gave him a small smile and prepared myself for a night of paranoia.

It wasn't until a week later that it happened. I was coming back from work and one of my co-workers was walking me home after I'd expressed some worries over my stalker. And after I told him I was alone because dear doggie was at the vet. He left me at the door of my complex and told me to call or text before going to sleep. I smiled and thanked him. I didn't know it at the time but my stalker had been hiding in the shadows, keeping an eye out for me.

Unbeknownst to him, he'd attracted his own shadowed stalker along with him.

I had just checked every room in my apartment and was about to head off to sleep when I got the text.

**He's in the hallway. Hide.**

_- Unknown_

This could have been a sick joke but my heart leaped in ways I'd never felt it leap before, and that was enough to scare me into grabbing a bat and hide in my closet, still clutching my phone. Minutes passed and I waited. I eventually heard the clicking noise of someone trying to open the door. And it grew quiet again.

Then he burst through the door. I held in a scream as the sounds of his heavy steps resonated in the apartment. He called for me, calling me 'sweetheart' over and over. It was as he was about to step inside my room that I heard him scream out, followed by a struggle. Said struggle made me sprint out of the closet and peak my head out of my room's doorway. My stalker was on the floor, bleeding and unconscious.

I remember looking up and seeing black boots and the edge of a brown overcoat. My eyes afterwards immediately went to the stranger's face, face that was covered by a bandana that stopped just over his nose, only allowing his eyes free under the cap he wore.

I must have looked absolutely ridiculous or terrified, or both.

It was the sound of sirens that broke us out of him and I staring at each other. It almost looked like he hesitated before leaving but he eventually did. It was then that I noticed another man in the hallway. He'd looked confused watching his friend running away, calling out to him asking where he was going. I remember that man sneaking half of his body in and asking in a hurry 'you gonna be okay sweetheart?'

I nodded and he mirrored my nod before quickly, awkwardly and quickly leaving.

The police arrived not long afterwards following calls from the neighbors regarding the disturbance. I was not able to answer much of the questions the police had for me, if any really. Not only was everything so vague but I never really knew whom it was that saved me. I'd heard the policemen speaking of a vigilante doing as he pleased, causing chaos is what they called it if I remember right.

"A vigilante?" I remember croaking out with a shaky voice.

"Aiden Pearce." I'd learn later on that he used the ctOS to spy, hack, steal and access information for his 'wild goose chase'. The policemen's words, not mine. I hadn't cared much for their view regarding Aiden Pearce, all I cared about was the fact that he'd stopped my stalker from seriously hurting me.

It was only a month later that I recognized, walking in plain sight on the street, the man that was with said vigilante that night. He froze when he saw me and I did too. He walked faster, hoping he'd lose me but I had been faster and caught up to him. Long dark hair, beard and a cap. He waited for me to say something.

"I only wanted to say thank you. The both of you. If you could tell him." Him being Pearce. T-Bone's mouth opened to say something as I turned my back to him.

"Don't you wanna know how we knew? Or why he did what he did? Nothing?" I had stopped walking and only turned my head.

"I figured that if you had wanted me to know I would by now. So," I paused and smiled, "thank you again." I left him there and continued on with my day.

A week later there was a knock on my door. And my life as I knew it would never be the same.

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**It's not much I know but the first official chapter will hold a lot more content than this one. You will also find out the name of my character in the next chapter seeing as I didn't name her. **

**Leave reviews, I love them! If you don't like, don't read. Any constructive comments are well appreciated. Also, no bashing. Please. English isn't my first language, French is. **

**Hope you enjoy! **

**P.S. This story will be a very slow story when it comes to the romance, I really want to develop it as best as I can. And also, I will try not to make my OC annoying, I hate that too. Don't worry. **


	2. Chapter 1

**I own nothing except OCs. WATCH_DOGS belongs to Ubisoft.**

**Enjoy!**

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Shattered_Illusions

Chapter_1

**Pearce & Mackay**

It was well past midnight by the time she exited the building in which she conducted a meeting, a quick one, with Jordi. It was supposed to be a no-more-than-five-minutes meeting but with him trying to recruit her as a fixer, that turned into half an hour of telling him 'no' meeting. It had become a routine for both of them each time they met. He'd recruit her help for what he always called a 'one time thing' but it ended being more than just a one-time thing and then he'd try to convince her into joining his organization. And each time it ended the same.

Jordi waving a hand around while sighing and saying, "Yeah, yeah I know. You work alone." She'd smirk and laugh. He would then shoo her away saying he'd get her next time.

"Good luck trying to find a good reason." Is what she'd answer with.

Today, or tonight, was no exception.

Standing in a back alley she looked to both her right and her left before making a decision to take the back alleys to go back home. She fixed the bag that hung across her chest and walked quietly in the dark, musty alley. She hugged the black leather jacket closer to her body as a blast of wind made her regret not wearing something warmer than just the damn jacket and her white t-shirt under it. With a shaky hand she took her phone out and sent a quick text to her friend, and big brother figure, telling him she was—

She froze, hearing steps coming from behind her. Taking a quick second to listen she started walking again, faster this time. Setting her phone safely inside one of her jacket's pockets she reached a hand into the inside of her bag, reaching for something else. She readied herself to turn around and face whoever was following her. From the corner of her eye she saw the shadow of an arm reaching for her shoulder and whipped her whole body around, hands holding a Beretta 92 and ready to shoot.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the person as she lowered the gun, "Are you— Are you kidding me? T? I could've shot you!"

T-Bone, with his hands raised above his head, let out a sigh of relief, "I didn't think you were gonna point a gun at my head!"

She closed her eyes, "Well, that's what you get for scaring the crap outta me." She blurted out as she put the safety on and put the gun back in her bag. "I was about to send you a text."

"Oh." She cocked an eyebrow at his answer. _Oh? Is that all you have to say? _Pursing her lips and then chewing on the inside of her cheek, she opened her mouth to say something.

"What's going on?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

His body was edged with tension as he spoke, "You know that building we were supposed to infiltrate?" She gave him a nod to continue. "I thought it was going to be easy to hack into the system, you know…in and out kinda thing, right?"

"T, just get to the point, please?" She begged, not liking where this was going.

"There's a main desk near the entrance with two armed security guards watching the cameras at all times. And I can't hack into the surveillance system." He paused, waiting for her to say something.

"Ask Pearce then." She said.

"He won't be able to do it."

She sighed loudly, bringing a hand to her eyes, "Why not?"

"Because I need direct access to the security system panel, said panel is in a room and said—"

"I get it, I get it." She said, recognizing the voice who had spoken. She turned slightly to her left and met with a pair of green eyes. Aiden Pearce. "Pearce."

"Mackay." Was all he said, giving her a slight nod. Their friend only shook his head at how the two always acknowledged each other.

"And why am I being told this again?" She asked, turning to T-Bone. Not that she was tired, wait, she was exhausted and all she wanted to do at this point was sleep. T-Bone looked at Aiden then back at her, "Oh no. No, no, no…" She started laughing, sarcasm and disbelief clearly present in her tone.

"We need a distraction." Was Aiden's answer.

"A—A distraction? I can think of a thousand other ways to distract someone!" She argued back.

An impatient sigh escaped Aiden's lips, "Something that won't put them on edge. A car accident or anything I breach will put anyone on high alert. And a pretty girl with some trouble is innocent enough."

"And we need to do this quietly." T-Bone finished, knowing she wouldn't like the whole 'innocent girl' image.

She scoffed, "Oh yeah, because quietly always works out."

"Claire, please—" T-Bone started.

She apologized and let him continue, "What do you need me to do?"

Aiden took his hand out of his coat pocket and handed her a set of car keys. She frowned and took them from his hand, her gaze going from the keys to him not entirely sure as to what she was to do.

"There's a car two blocks from here. White BMW, four doors. Go to the corner of State Street and Adam, there's a building there that belongs to Marcus Wagner's law firm—"

"Wait, wait, wait…Marcus Wagner? Not multi-millionaire, third generation asshole, security obsessed and money stealer Marcus Wagner is it?" She asked Aiden.

"Yes." He stopped and waited for her to react.

She bit her lip then shook her head, "Okay. Go on then."

"You'll double park in front of the building and with this," he took out a pocket knife, "I want you to slash one tire. Make sure his back is to you when he fixes the car—" "Whoa, whoa…who's gonna fix the car?" She cut in.

Aiden sighed, "What? You need my help don't you? I need to know how it's gonna go down."

He sent a glare her way then looked at T-Bone, whom answered the question, "One of the guards was a mechanic before, he'll know how to change the tire. And he's new there, won't be used to handle these kind of situations."

She opened her mouth to speak, "Before you ask, I'll make sure all the phone lines for any sort of help available are busy or jammed so that when you go in the building to ask for help…he'll be forced to come out." _Thank you for the answer Aiden. _

She thought the plan over and over as quickly as she could in her head. T-Bone had finished explaining that all exterior cameras were accessible from the outside and that Aiden would take care of those. He also told her there was one part of the plan they couldn't tell her and when she asked he said 'element of surprise' which made her frown. They watched her in silence as she went over the plan one last time before letting a sigh escape her lips.

"Is that all I need to know?"

"There's another car parked on the other side of the street, a black Audi. T-Bone will be in it and I'll take care of the other guard. Once I'm in, I need you guys to tell me if anyone's coming once I gain and give you access to the cameras on the inside. After that I'm gonna get inside the security system. Once I get what I need, I'm out and we're done."

She nodded and pointed her finger at Aiden then T-Bone before bringing her arm down, "You guys owe me one." She said before walking towards where the car was, shaking her head and mumbling to herself under the watchful eyes of Aiden and T-Bone.

"I'm surprised she agreed." Aiden admitted.

"You shouldn't be. She's often willing to do a lot of things that most wouldn't, she just worries about her own safety too." T-Bone reasoned as they started walking towards the street, the same way Claire had went.

"She shouldn't feel the need to." Aiden said as he approached a car, phone in hand. The doors unlocked themselves and he shoved his phone in his coat's pocket before looking back at T-Bone.

T-Bone opened the passenger door and looked back at him, "Maybe it's because she feels the need to repay someone a favour." He pointed out as he got in the car, leaving Aiden to stare off into space for a few seconds before getting inside the car.

* * *

Claire's arms swayed back and forth as she walked, still trying to calm herself. It wasn't the first time she'd do something dangerous while trying to help Aiden or T-Bone or Jordi even. But she couldn't hide the nervousness. Not only was this illegal but could cost her, or her friends' lives. When she reached the glass doors she knocked on them to attract the attention of the guards, which she did. One of them looked up then threw a look at his colleague but still walked towards her with keys in his hand. He unlocked one door and with a very interrogative look he asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yes! I'm so sorry to bother but my car has a flat tire and I don't have my phone with me, I was wondering if I could use a phone here or if you could call for help?" She explained with a sweet smile. "I know it's late and all—"

"Oh, no, no. It's fine, let me just call for you. Do you mind waiting there for a second?" He asked her. She shook her head as he walked back inside. She could see them speaking then the one who talked to her picked up the phone and dialled. He dialled a few times and eventually spoke to his colleague again. His colleague cast a look at her then got up. _That's him. _He approached and opened the door, stepping out.

"Hey, I'm Derek. We couldn't get hold of anyone but I could help if you want to, I was a mechanic before…" He trailed off.

She smiled, "Yes! Please, I'm desperate." She paused as she pointed towards where her car was. He started walking in tandem with her. "I'm Blair by the way." She lied.

He gave her a smile, "Do you have the spare and everything to change it with you?" He asked as she nodded.

"Oh yeah, my father was always afraid I'd miss something if I ever got a flat tire so I always make sure I've got everything." She laughed before taking the keys out of her pocket. "Everything's in the trunk." He followed her and started taking the spare out of the car along with the leverage pipe, jack and lug-nut wrench as well as a flashlight. He started working on removing the tire as she held the flashlight in her hand, giving him some light to work with. He tried doing small talk, even going as far as maybe getting her phone number. She smirked and mentally urged Aiden or T-Bone to do something.

She heard movement behind her and before she could move someone grabbed her, one arm holding hers down and the other holding a gun to her head before bringing her into his chest as the flashlight fell from her hand.

"Hey, are you—whoa." The guard started reaching for his gun.

"You do that, she's dead." _Aiden. _He emphasized he wasn't joking by putting his finger on the trigger, ready to pull.

The security guard held his hands up, nodding as to tell he understood, "What do you want? I'm just helping her…we don't want any trouble."

"Take your gun out, slowly and kick it to me. Same with your radio." Aiden instructed. The guard looked at Claire, well, Blair and starting nodding saying everything was going to be okay. He removed his radio first and once it was on the ground he kicked it. He then reached, with one hand, for his gun and took it out of its holster, then slowly did the same as with his radio. It was then that Aiden pushed her to the ground as gently as he could which wasn't so gentle and went to the guard, his baton now out and knocking the guard unconscious. By the time Aiden stood back up Claire had gotten back unto her feet, sending a glare Aiden's way.

"You just had to push, didn't you?" She asked as she dusted herself off, taking a few steps towards Aiden. He did the same but walked past her as he went for the security guard's gun. She scoffed. "Well, screw you too." She started walking towards the car where T-Bone would be waiting in but Aiden grabbing her arm stopped her. She turned around, looked down at his hand holding her arm then back at him with an interrogative look plastered on her face. In his other hand was the other gun.

"Take it." Her lips parted but no sound came out. She simply reached for the gun and looked at it.

"What makes you think you won't need it?" She asked. Not that she had no trust in him but things always had a tendency to never go according to plan when with Aiden.

"I won't." The confidence in which he'd said that made her believe it but a small particle of her being still worried. She nodded then looked back towards the street before leaving Aiden in his place as she ran to the other side of the street, reaching the black Audi within seconds. She climbed in the back knowing Aiden would sit in the passenger seat once he'd be back. T-Bone looked up from the computer screen for a mere second to acknowledge her presence before concentrating on what was happening on his computer's screen. She leaned forward and as she did so her phone rang. She looked for it in the bag she'd given T-Bone and took it out, answering the call.

"Hello?"

"It's me. Put me on speaker." Of course it was Aiden. She did as he oh-so-nicely asked—ordered. "T-Bone are you in?"

"I'm in, brother. No need to worry, we've got eyes on the whole building." As T-Bone spoke Claire saw Aiden on one of the cameras as he walked towards the last door in a hallway. "We've got your back." She watched Aiden disappear behind the door and immediately set her eyes on the other cameras, especially where there were guards. With her fingers she started nervously tapping on her knee as she waited for Aiden to tell them he was done. She looked down for a second then up again before squinting her eyes at the screen. She tapped on T-Bone's shoulder and pointed towards a specific camera.

Before T-Bone even got the chance to open his mouth, she spoke, "Hey, you done?"

"Not yet. Why?"

"Guards on the," she paused and looked at the screen, "fifth floor are getting fidgety."

"I'm almost done." Was all Aiden said as she rolled her eyes. Almost done wasn't good enough. She looked back at the screen and sighed. One guard was walking towards the elevator.

T-Bone gave her a nod, "Pearce, you need to get outta there now! A guard is coming down from the fifth floor."

No answer. She tried again.

Still nothing.

An irritated sigh escaped her lips, "Will he ever listen?!" Everything was silent on the other side of the line as she kept trying to tell him to get out, the guard at that moment coming out of the elevator and clearly noticing the absence of the guards. As the guard walked towards the hallway where the room in which Aiden was in, she silently cursed him in her mind. She was about to call out again when the passenger door of the car opened and a completely fine Aiden now sat there. Even when infuriated with him she couldn't deny she was relieved to see that he'd gotten out just fine.

"Geez, Aiden, you nearly gave me a heart attack." She exclaimed as he turned his head to his left, looking at her. "How'd you get out? We didn't see you."

He gave T-Bone one look and he started the car, leaving the premises, "I accessed the panel and was able to loop some footage of a few minutes of nothing."

She blinked a couple of times before leaning back in her seat, "You were already out."

"Almost done was good enough." She could tell he was smirking under his bandana as she watched him remove it. She held back a small grin as he looked back at her.

She raised her hands, "Alright, I'll admit…that was good." She confessed as she let both of her hands fall down in her lap. "Now, what?"

"We're done. We're bringing you back to your place." Aiden explained and stopped before opening his mouth to speak again. "You're going t—"

"I'm going to have to lay low for a couple of days…just in case, I know." She knew he hated being interrupted but she liked annoying him from time to time. "I get the drift."

T-Bone looked at her quickly before his eyes went back to the road, "I'm going to check on you during those to make sure everything's fine."

She rolled her eyes, "I'll be fine, T. I've got Harley and an amazingly good security system, I'm safe." T-Bone looked at Aiden then back at the road. "Come on guys, I know what to do. Stay low, keep track of anyone who I think may have followed me and avoid the cops."

They just stayed quiet and she knew she'd convinced them to leave her alone. Not worrying was another thing. T-Bone was open about his worry towards her but Aiden, not so much. She knew he worried because of how many times he'd make sure her security system was up to date. He just did little things that told her he worried but she never brought it up seeing as it would just push him further away. It had been hard enough to get to where their 'relationship' was and she wasn't going to ruin it. Love-hate relationship it was, but she liked it that way.

It wasn't long before they reached a quiet street in the University Village/Little Italy area. She gathered everything she had and stuffed it back in her bag before opening the door and stepping out. She closed it and knocked on the rolled up window on Aiden's side, waiting for him to roll it down. When he did she reached inside her bag and pulled out the security guard's gun, handing it to him.

"You might need it more than I do," she paused and gave a small smile, "besides, I have that arsenal at home. I'm pretty sure I won't be running out of ammo or guns anytime soon." He stared at the gun and took it, putting it in his lap.

T-Bone was the one that spoke, "Be careful, huh? And try to get some sleep."

She smiled, "Be careful too. It goes for the both of you." She gave them one last look, as well as a nod, and turned her back to them, making her way towards the entrance of her apartment building. Once she was in, Aiden gave T-Bone a nod telling to start the car. They were soon driving in complete silence. They'd arrived at T-Bone's place and Aiden had gotten out of the car to go to the driver's side.

"You know what I just realized," T-Bone started and got only one uninterested look from Aiden. At this point he only wanted to rest, "For the first time ever since you've both known each other…she's called you by your first name."

Aiden cocked and eyebrow, not quite understanding where T-Bone was getting at, "All I'm saying is…there's finally some progress. About damn time too." Was all he said before looking up at the building in front of him and carefully making his way towards it, leaving Aiden to ponder over what his friend had just said. He scoffed and sat in the driver's seat, starting the car.

* * *

_Law enforcement has identified well-known vigilante Aiden Pearce as the culprit in the Marcus Wagner law firm break-in. It is also believed that Pearce has kidnapped a young woman only known by the name of Blair. It is to be noted that her involvement in the crime is still unclear. The young woman was described as being in her late twenties-early thirties with long light brown hair and green eyes. Her physique was described as being petite and she is believed to be of no danger to the public. If you have any information, please con—_

Claire had to tear her gaze away from the small TV in the coffee shop when her phone buzzed on the table. Frowning she took it in her hands and read the message.

**You saw the news?**

** - T. Grady**

She sighed and answered with an obvious 'yes' before standing up, sending a smile to the old man whom had always given her a free coffee every morning. She exited the coffee shop and dialled her friend's phone number as she put the phone to her ear.

"Hey." She answered as he mirrored her answer. "This could affect his reputation with the public."

She heard him chuckling, "He's not one to care much about reputation."

She scoffed, laughing slightly, "True but still, I wouldn't want them to think he kidnaps people. It's gonna put more fear into citizens."

"I get that and I'm sure he does too but seriously, who's going to believe that he kidnapped someone. He's never done that before." She nodded, agreeing with what her friend said. _He's right, I shouldn't have to worry. _"I wouldn't worry if I were you. No one, aside from the cops, is going to believe he'd kidnap someone. It's not 'in his MO'."

She laughed at his answer, "Yeah, you're right."

"And plus, from the chatter I heard some cops are actually thinking it might be some low-life thug pretending to be him just so he gets to steal crap and blame it on Aiden. Their source, the guard, is considered unreliable because of his head injury." She let out a good heartfelt laugh at that one. "Good one, right?"

She nodded and laughed once more.

"Oh, wait 'till he hears that one."

* * *

**So here was the first chapter! I'm just going to say, I'm still trying to get the hang of writing Aiden and the others. It might take a while but there's always room for improvement. It needs getting used to but it'll come, I'm sure it will. **

**I'm still unsure where this story will go seeing as we haven't seen much of it so, so far it's pretty freestyle when it comes to the plot itself. But I'll find something and I'll find out where I decide to go with this.**

**Also, I know nothing of hacking so that's also something that needs getting used to. Bare with me please :)**

**Constructive comments are well appreciated :) If you don't like, don't read. **

**Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 2

**I do not own WATCH_DOGS. Only my OC. And the dog. **

**Also, I don't live in Chicago or the States for that matter. I'm a little Canadian girl from Montreal and I've never been out of my country. I just took random street names and yeah, used those to write. So the locations aren't supposed to be based off of an actual place in Chicago. It's all in my mind. I know nothing of Chicago really although I'd love to visit :)**

**Just wanted you guys to know. **

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Shattered_Illusions

Chapter_2

_Reality _

For the third time that night her phone had rang but being the oh-so-good citizen she was, answering was not an option. Especially while driving. To say that the frantic calls didn't make her anxious would be a lie and she bit harder on her bottom lip as she looked at the lit up screen of her phone sitting on the passenger seat. Going from the screen to the road back ahead of her soon became irritating and she pulled over. She took the phone in her hands and her thumb stood over the screen for what seemed like hours before finally pressing down on the 'answer' button.

Bringing the phone to her ear she answered, "What's so important that you've been calling so many times, T?"

"You anywhere near Franklin Street?!" Her friend asked as her eyebrows furrowed. She looked through her window and tried finding the name of a street before answering.

"I'm on Washington, heading west…why?" She heard him grunt and cough. "Hey T, you okay?" She asked, worried.

He coughed one more time, "Yeah, too much running."

She rolled her eyes, exasperated, "What kind of trouble have you got yourself into?"

"Can you change cars and head to Franklin and Randolph in less than five minutes?" He hurriedly asked as she grunted, her free hand gripping the steering wheel as she pursed her lips and closed her eyes. Why did he bother asking if he probably had tracked her before even making that call?

"Yes, why?"

It was silent for a few seconds, "Do it. You'll get it." He then hung up, leaving her speechless. Keeping her eyes closed for a few seconds.

"Fuck it." She took the keys from the ignition and shoved them in her bag, leaving it under her seat, before heading out, taking out a pair of leather gloves to cover her hands. _I can always hack my own car._ The sound of light rain hitting her leather jacket strangely allowed her to concentrate on the task at hand as she worked on hacking the closest car to her as she walked. Soon a black sedan came into view as she looked around before locking her eyes on the screen. "Please work, you better work or I'll—" she heard the door unlock and with a sigh of relief she entered the car. With the press of another button the car started as she smirked. She drove as fast as possible, concentrating on her surroundings as best as she could. She wondered why she was still surprised to be called at any time, day or night, by her friends to go on some crazy suicide mission but she could never not do it.

She took another right once she recognized Franklin Street and knew her target was close by as she heard police sirens not too far from her. The lights of a police car coming her way on the one-way street made her realize how serious this was as she dangerously approached Randolph. It was the flickering traffic lights that caused her to come to a sudden stop as the car swerved to the right before coming to a stop sideways in the middle of the street. The blockers suddenly rose up and the loud collision happened before the police cruiser could break to prevent it. It was during that moment that a dark, tall figure she could recognize stopped and analyzed the setting all around him. She pressed a button, which rolled the window on the passenger side down before yelling out two times to the figure, attracting his attention. He ran towards her before opening the door and getting in the car. He stopped to look at her as she shook her head.

"I should've know it was you." She mumbled as she turned around and went against the traffic, which wasn't much of a traffic considering the time. She carefully took a left on a street, not really paying attention to which street she was on. Her grip on the steering wheel was as tight as it could be, tension lining her body as she carefully drove down the street. "Which way?" She turned her head to him but he looked ahead as if he hadn't heard her.

"Aiden, which way?" She tried again and this time he whipped his head to look at her. He simply pointed to her left and she took the turn, remaining quiet after that. The silence became almost overwhelming as she considered saying something but knowing Aiden she knew she wouldn't get much of an answer.

She had met him a little over two years ago after pestering T-Bone about him. He had been the one that had sent her that text on that fateful evening about her stalker and it was also thanks to him that he hadn't, her stalker, hurt her. T-Bone also had explained that Aiden had been the one to insist on going to her building that night before going somewhere else. It'd taken her a couple of months to get used to the fact that most of what they did was illegal and most of time endangered themselves along with others. But the more she was being told about what people used the CtOS for, the colder she became when it came to the consequences that ensued. T-Bone had become a sort of mentor to her as she learned more and more about hacking. She was far from being an expert but she had a few tricks up her sleeve. On one disastrous night she happened to have been in an accident created by Aiden himself. It was when the gunfire started that she had been able to prove herself to be more useful than just a pretty face. Once she recovered from the shock of the accident, the sound of bullets flying by had immediately put her on high alert. She snuck out of the door and had surprised one of the guys shooting at Aiden, knocking him out before taking his gun. It was that night she'd first killed someone.

* * *

_She felt herself being grabbed from behind as she was quickly shoved hard against a car, the impact knocking the heck out of her. Dizzy from what just happened she tried shaking her head before the person who held her against the car grabbed her chin and lifted her head up, giving her the chance to stare into the stranger's eyes. _

_Her eyes widened as her jaw slackened and her mouth opened slightly, unable to handle what she'd just seen. Or whom. The same green eyes, the olive drab baseball cap, the brown overcoat and that same damn bandana covering his nose and mouth. He definitely had not expected to see her because she saw his eyes widened as his grip became loose. She knew he had recognized her. She could see the battle within himself of whether to leave her right there or take her with him as the sirens became louder the more they stayed still, his grip still tight on her. She held his gaze, determination set in her eyes. She carefully watched his left hand as it traveled down the right side of her body to grab her wrist and for the first time he tore his eyes from her. To his left, getting closer, was the police cars approaching and to his right was his, their, escape route. _

"_Can you run?" She nodded to his question and with her wrist in his hand he darted to his right, along an empty street. _

_She didn't know how long they ran but once he started to slow down was when she allowed herself to take in her surroundings. They were in a dim lit park, park she didn't recognize. There were apartment blocks and a corner store just a few meters from them. She suddenly remember the 'them' part when Aiden finally let go of her wrist. She swiftly turned around to look at him. He was looking straight at her, his black bandana still covering half his face. He took a few careful steps towards her and stopped when his chest almost pressed against hers. _

_She looked up at him, "You think this 'invading your space' thing is going to intimidate me?" She continued to look at him as he stared her down. "Because it isn't." He glared at her as a smirk appeared on her face. He took a few steps back still. She was about to start walking away and just as she turned hoping he'd stop her, he did._

_"Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" He asked._

_She looked back at him and her eyes widened. His bandana was down, revealing the full face of the man that saved her and whom she'd been told about. She tried to hide how much it surprised her by sending a small smile his way, "Wouldn't you like to know?" She heard a grunt coming from him. He obviously wasn't used to someone being like that towards him. "You've got questions? Ask T-Bone, he'll know the answers." And this time she's the one that left._

* * *

The soft 'pop' of a gunshot suddenly shattered the window to her left, the piece of glass flying in every direction as she lost control of the car. The impact of the car and whatever it collided with threw her forward, causing the seat belt to dig into her chest as it knocked the wind out of her. All she remembered was the airbags deploying and then it all faded to black.

When she reopened her eyes everything was blur. The sounds and images were all so confusing as she tried regaining consciousness. She looked ahead of her and noticed a lamppost as she grunted. She attempted to straighten herself as best as she could but the more she moved, the more pain she felt. Slowly but surely the blurriness was leaving and things were becoming clearer. As she swallowed she tasted the blood and with her right hand she touched her lips, looking down at her fingers and seeing the blood. She suddenly whipped her head to the ruckus outside. She could finally distinguish the noises and the gunfire soon became evident as she tried figuring out from which direction it came from.

"Aiden…" She then whipped her head to where he was seated and found the passenger seat empty. _Ugh, where did he go? _She thought as she struggled to get the seatbelt off, it being too tight and keeping her from moving. She winced as she looked down to her left leg, an obvious gash to add to the list of injuries clearly visible. She froze. It was too quiet now. She looked out the window and waited, the only noise present being the sound of rain. But it wasn't long before it was joined with the sound of faint footsteps running towards her. She swallowed hard, hoping it was Aiden or anyone else for that matter. She just needed to get out of here. Her eyes finally found the person running and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. Aiden was finally reaching her as he started tugging and kicking at the door, grunting as he tried to open it.

"What happened?" She asked as she tried helping him by pushing the door from the inside, the handles becoming useless seeing as they were wrecked.

"Wagner's people." He simply said, anger clear in his voice. He stopped tugging and looked at her. "Are you alright?"

She waved a hand at him, "I'll live. I just wanna get out of here. Not too fond of being stuck." She whimpered as she winced some more as he leaned closer to the window.

"Can you remove your seatbelt?" He urgently asked as she shook her head.

"No," she panicked, "the damn thing's stuck." She uttered. He looked back towards the other cars that had showed up.

"I'll be back." He said as he ran back to where she'd originally heard the gunfire coming from. It wasn't too long before he came back. He had his baton in his hand as he cleared the rest of the glass that hadn't broken when the bullet went through. "Lean back." She did as he ordered and watched him lean his body halfway inside the car, holding out a pocketknife. She couldn't see what he was doing but whatever he did worked since the belt loosened up completely and she found herself free from it. Aiden leaned out and threw the knife on the ground as he tried tugging at the door one last time but it still hadn't budged. He hit the door in anger and looked at her as a familiar sound caught their attention. Sirens.

"Go!" She urged him. He didn't move. "Aiden, go!" He looked at her as if she'd gone insane. She yelled at him to leave as he took a few steps backwards. They looked at each other and her lips fell into a thin line as she waited for him to just leave. But he instead got close to the car again. "What are you—"

"Getting you out." He stated. "Come on, we'll get you out through the window." It took her a few seconds for what he said to register but she soon found herself taking her legs out and extending them sideways to rest on the passenger seat. She pushed herself up, feeling Aiden's arms wrap themselves around her as he carefully squeezed her out of the broken window. Relief finally hit the both of them as her legs hit the ground, still feeling wobbly and dizzy. She felt Aiden turn her around as he looked her up and down checking for any other injury before gently grabbing her forearm, making her look at him.

"Can you run?" He asked, the worry seen from the way his eyes looked at her. She'd just realized now that his bandana was up yet again.

She nodded, "I can handle it." He seemed unsure of her answer but as the sirens grew louder he knew they couldn't just stand there anymore. She's the one that tugged on his coat. And they ran. They ran because yet again their lives depended on it.

Where they ended up was far more different than the first time. They had slowed down as they stepped into an alley, a dark one at that. She joined up with him, slowly limping as she leaned against a wall. She held her hand against the gash on her leg as she looked up at Aiden whom was standing still.

She winced and opened her mouth, "Don't apologize." Aiden said before she could utter a word. "It wasn't your fault."

"I shouldn't have lost control of the car like th—" "You're alive and that's all that matters." He argued as she still faced his back.

"We're alive." He swiftly turned around as she corrected him, a frown apparent on his features as he dropped the bandana. His face held an interrogative look as she opened her mouth again. "You only mentioned me, but _we_ are alive. The both of us and that _is_ all that matters." She finished.

He walked up to her and stood in front of her, "Stay here, I'll be right back." And with that he left her alone in a dark alley. She pursed her lips.

"And there goes the caring Aiden." She muttered under breath. She understood the way he was, in some ways. She could feel the soreness spreading throughout her body the longer she stayed still and she almost regretted not following him. But he eventually showed up in a car, honking to catch her attention. He came out of the car and with a small jog, reached her. He draped an arm around her waist and helped her walk to the car as he opened the door to the passenger side. He helped her settle in before leaning in as she looked up.

"This time," He paused, "I'm driving." He finished as he closed the door. He opened the door to his side and settled in as he gave her a look.

"Way too soon for car jokes, Aiden." She plainly said as she shook her head, seeing the eyes of her friend grow with worry. "I'm fine…just, just drive." He gave her one last look and started driving. She kept applying pressure on the gash as she looked out the window, paying attention to everything around them. _Don't be too paranoid now._

"Where'd you leave your car?" She turned to him and shook her head as she tried remembering.

She frowned before telling him, "On Washington…near Michigan I think. Left the keys in."

"Planned on hacking your own car?" He asked as she gave a small scoff.

"Yup." Was all she answered with as they fell silent again, the events running through her head over and over. _He could have just ran and left me there. _But he hadn't left her. Truth is, the lack of selfishness she'd willingly shown by telling him to leave had thrown him off. But he'd never tell her. Which is why instead of running away and leaving her to the cops he tried everything to get her out. What was turning out as a normal day for her ended up being more eventful than she had hoped.

From the corner of her eyes she watched as Aiden gripped the steering wheel tighter and tighter as time went by, some kind of emotion lining his features or the ones she could see. She cursed the damn bandana he wore for hiding most of his face, which prevented her from putting her finger on whatever emotion was plastered on him. His eyes never left the road as he carefully drove, avoiding any sort of busy streets or bringing attention to their car. She tore her gaze from his form as she bit her lower lip, wincing as she lifted her hand up to take a look at the gash. It was the first time she'd been this hurt following a 'situation' with Aiden. Sure she got some bruises and scratches here and there but nothing as painful as what had just happened. She didn't even want to see what her face looked like as she leaned back into her seat.

She hesitantly opened her mouth before speaking, "Are we gonna talk about this?" He whipped his head around, giving her a mere look of confusion before setting his eyes back on the road.

"What's there to talk about?" She scoffed as the words left his mouth.

"Wagner's people? Them trying to kill us?" She hissed as he looked back her. He obviously was thinking of something if he didn't want to talk about it.

"I'll take care of it." She was about to say something but closed her mouth. _No use in arguing with him. No use at all. _

"Yeah, well, while you 'take care of it', can you make sure not to die?" Although she'd spat the words in a sarcastic manner, the way her voice shook near the end of her sentence was enough to make him turn around towards her as he pulled over in front of her apartment building.

He pulled his bandana down, "Because you care?" It wasn't how he wanted to phrase the words but they, in the end, came out the wrong way.

She stifled a laugh, "Yes, Aiden, I care! Why shouldn't I, huh?" She paused as she looked at him, clearly surprising him with her outburst even if he tried to hide it. "I'm involved in this too and this whole 'it's none of your business' crap that I'm not buying as got to stop! You can't always be alone to do things and you know that! It's not just your life they threatened, but mine too!" She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked away, biting down on her lower lip. She suddenly feared his reaction seeing as she knew he didn't like to be talked to in that manner and she had never spoken to him that way. From the corner of her eye she saw him doing something on his phone before shoving it back in his coat's pocket.

"I unlocked the door to your place, you can go." She blinked, surprised at the soft tone he'd used.

"Aiden, I—" "Go home and wash up…take care of those." He gestured the cuts she had on her face and the one on her leg before giving her one last look. "I'll be back with your car."

She only nodded, "Okay." It came out as a whisper but she knew he'd heard her. Before stepping out she turned to him, "There's my bag under my seat." He nodded and waited for her to get out of the car. She walked to the entrance of her block and saw him speed off. She stared until she saw him turn a corner, disappearing yet again. She got inside her block and walked towards the elevator. Pressing the button for the fourth floor she waited a few seconds as the door opened in front of her. The ride up was quick and she stepped out, walking to the end of the hallway. She opened the door Aiden had unlocked and locked it behind her before resting her back to it. She gave a small smile as Harley, her German Shepherd, walked to her before going to the living room and setting himself on the couch. She gave herself a small push and went to her room picking a loose dark blue shirt, underwear and leggings as she headed towards the bathroom. For the first time she got a clear look at her face and she could only wince as she touched the small cuts that cover mostly her neck and the few on her face.

She put the toilet seat down and set her clothing on it before raising her body again. Slowly she removed her jacket, started to remove her shirt as she flinched. She finished taking it off and grunted, the bruise visible on her ribs and across her chest bringing bad news—pain. Every time she inhaled and exhaled deeply she'd grimace. Her hand went to her jeans slowly slipping them off, mindful of the still bleeding gash. Once they were off she slipped the last of her clothing off and went into the shower. She toyed with the faucets before she got the warmth she wanted as she let the water fall on her body. She couldn't restrain the moan that came out of her mouth as she started smiling. _Nothing better than a warm shower. _She thought as she started cleaning herself off, mindful of her injuries.

After a very warm, well-welcomed shower Claire stepped out and only put on her underwear and shirt. She sat in her bathroom as she cleaned the wound on her leg, stitching it up as best as she could before putting cream and gauze on it. She put the last piece of medical tape on the gauze, standing up to see if it would hold when she tried walking a little bit. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth when it did as she reached for her leggings, slipping them on. Luckily the rest was going to be quicker than her leg.

After being done taking care of her injuries she slowly walked to her kitchen, Harley following her every moves from his place on the couch. She went to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and some painkillers. She took two painkillers and with a big sip of water she swallowed them before putting the pills back in the cupboard. She walked to her living room, bottle in hand, and sat down next to Harley. And she waited.

* * *

"Ugh."

Claire slowly opened her eyes to be welcomed by bright rays of the sun falling directly on her. She frowned as she slowly sat up, yawning while doing so.

"What the—" She stopped when she realized she was in her bed. She pursed her lips and looked around her. Everything was in its place so far, nothing was out of the ordinary. She removed the covers from her body and winced as she did, reminded suddenly of the bruises she'd acquired the day before. She swung her legs to the side and sat there for a few minutes before actually putting her feet down on the hardwood floor. She took careful steps towards her living room and once she noticed that only Harley was there munching on his food. She rapidly walked around her apartment and checked every closet before ending back in the living room where she finally set her eyes on the small table sitting in the middle. There on the table was her bag. She took it and brought it with her as she sat on the couch, ignoring the pain. She went through her bag and sighed happily when she noticed everything was still intact and where it belonged. She pushed the bag off of her lap and unto the couch before smiling. The bag, the dog being fed and her being put into bed last night, it was all Aiden's doing. She wondered how long he stayed if he'd fed Harley enough so he'd have food left. She knew she couldn't ask because then he'd definitely close himself off.

"Ugh, and I had to go off on him last night. I was such a bitch." She groaned as she slapped a hand to her forehead, frowning and wincing at the same time. Dropping her hand down in her lap she looked around. She felt horrible. Yes, she'd told him she cared but it was the way it came out that had her feeling the way she did. She reached for the remote control and opened the television to watch the news, hoping it would take her mind off of what had happened.

The image that appeared on screen did everything but take her mind off of it. She stared at the scene of the accident seeing it happening from the CCTV's point of view. She tuned out any sound as she watched the accident happen. The car hitting the lamppost, Aiden stepping out and disappearing from view before reappearing to help her get out of the car and them escaping the area. Feeling sick to the stomach she slowly started tuning in to what the news anchor was saying regarding the events.

"…_seeing as the young woman being rescued from the crash fits the physical description of the young woman known to the public as Blair. The police department has not released a statement yet regarding the accident or the implication of the young woman in the previous break-in at Marcus Wagner's law firm but based off of those images, we can somehow assume that she is involved with the recent incidents. The police ask for the help of every citizen of Chicago to help identify the presumed accomplice of Aiden Pearce. Once again, she is described as being—"_

She tore her gaze off the television and looked to the door where she'd just heard a knock. She frowned and searched for the time. _It's past noon already. _She thought, getting up and going to her bag to take her gun as she slowly walked to the door. She looked through the peephole and cursed as she opened the door.

"What is it with people and trying to scare me, geez!" She exclaimed, stepping back as he walked in before stopping to take a look at her.

"Wow," He paused as she cocked an eyebrow, "you, uh, you look like crap." She scoffed and raised her middle finger, nearly shoving it in his face before walking to her kitchen.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of your badly timed visit?" She sassed with a tone of sarcasm.

He put a hand to his chest, mocking being hurt, "I'm paying an injured friend a visit, can't I not?" She rolled her eyes and signalled for him to get on with why he was there. "Pearce sent me."

She whipped her head around, "Aiden?"

"Since when do you call him that?" He asked, a sly smirk appearing across his lips.

"Let me see, uhh, since it's none of your business," He chuckled and leaned over the island in the middle of her kitchen, "can you please get to the point?! I don't know if you heard but last night wasn't all that great!" She gestured to herself and the injuries.

"He sent me to make sure you were okay." Her eyebrows furrowed before Jordi opened his mouth to speak again. "He didn't exactly say that but we both know that's what he meant."

She pointed her finger at him, "Don't go there." She warned and he raised his hands in mock surrender. She heard him chuckle before he continued.

"He's taking care of some business on the other side of the city in hopes that it'll bring the attention back on him and less on you." He explained as she kept her eyes on her task before her, making coffee. "He was very insistent. Well, isn't he always?"

"Yeah." She mumbled. "Coffee?"

"No, thanks though." She waited for him to continue seeing as he wouldn't stay quiet for long and she was always, "So," right. "What happened last night?"

She turned her head and looked at him from the corner of her left eye, "What do you think?"

"I mean, I know what I saw from the CCTV footage but whatever happened for him to come to me the way he did asking for help—" "He asked you for help plenty of times before." She cut in, turning around to look at him with a cup of coffee in hand.

He nodded, "Him asking me for help is demanding weapons." She took a sip and concentrated her gaze on the liquid inside her cup. "He ASKED for help. That's never happened. You know him and I aren't buddy-buddy to begin with."

"You'd rip each other's throat before that happened." He laughed at her remark. She held back a small smile as she looked up at him. "Wagner's people surprised us and I lost control of the car. I semi-fell unconscious and Aiden took care of Wagner's men. Once he was done he helped me out of the car and we ran. That's it." She explained, hoping he would just take it and leave it.

He nodded, more to himself than to her before speaking, "It's not what I saw." She bit the inside of her cheek and closed her eyes as he spoke. "I saw a reason for Wagner's people to want to get to you."

"Jordi," she stopped him. "You're my friend. We argue a lot, point given but I care about you, so please…do not go there." She pleaded with him, setting her cup of coffee on the counter before looking back at him.

"All I'm saying is," He paused before straightening himself up, "Wagner is dangerous. If he's got his eyes on you, it's either for business or you're on his black list."

She swallowed hard, "Well, we know where I fall in there."

He leaned on the island again, a sigh leaving his lips, "Luckily they don't have a clear shot of you."

"But I'm not in the clear." She stated and he shook his head, confirming what she'd thought. "Does this mean I have to move?"

"For safety it'd be better but until we know what Pearce is up to, I'd say wait." He advised as she nodded, biting down on her lip. He leaned back and stretched a bit, "Look I have a business meeting, I just came to make sure you were alright and so he wouldn't kill me."

She chuckled, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Go." She paused when he took a few steps towards the door and stopped. "Would you just go?!" She laughed pushing him towards the door.

As he stepped out he turned and gave her one last look, "Stay safe." She nodded and waved before closing the door, locking it.

The muffled sound of music startled her as she looked around, a frown apparent on her face before it clicked. Hastily she went to her room and searched for her phone before finding it on her nightstand. She pressed the 'answer' button and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hey—"

"You're alive, thank god." She opened her mouth and then shut it. "Hey, you there?"

"Yes, yes…why wouldn't I be alive?" She had an enormous desire to know why her friend thought she was dead. "T-Bone, what happened?"

He scoffed before answering, "I could ask you the same thing. Neither of you seemed to think that maybe I'd want to know if you guys were okay."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…wait." She paused before assembling the words in her head. "Aiden didn't call you?"

"No. For all I know you both could've died and I wouldn't have known. Wasn't he with you?" He asked her as she grunted.

"Yeah, but he left me at my place before going to get my car." She pondered on whether or not to tell him about the whole 'Aiden coming in the apartment while she was asleep' thing and decided against it. "He sent Jordi to make sure I was alright. He just left as a matter of fact." She ended.

"You haven't heard from him since last night then?" T-Bone asked her.

She shook her head and answered, "No. You think he's fine? I mean, he's gotta be. Jordi said he had business on the other side of the city so…" she let the sentence hang.

"Yeah…" He mirrored what she'd just done with her last sentence. "You're fine though?"

She gave an exasperated sigh, "I'm kinda getting tired of people asking me that but yes, I am fine." She paused and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

He chuckled, "Don't sweat it, sister, I'm not one to take things to heart. I saw the footage of the accident and got worried."

"I get it." She admitted. "Look, I need to take Harley out. Poor thing probably hates me now."

"He doesn't." He reassured her as she laughed. "I'll call later, yeah?"

The young Scottish-French girl nodded, "Yeah, sounds good." She paused then spoke again. "Would you let me know if you hear from Aiden?" She hoped he wouldn't make a comment like Jordi had attempted.

There was silence on the other line, "Yeah, I will."

"Thanks." She was more than thankful that he didn't say anything else regarding the request. "Talk to ya later, T."

"Yeah, careful." She waited and he hung up. She stared at the phone in her hands before throwing it on her bed. She walked back and called for Harley as the German Shepherd barked.

"You wanna go out?" She asked as he barked again, making her smile. "Yeah, me too. Your mum needs it." She exclaimed before going to the coat rack, Harley following her as he excitedly wagged his tail. She grabbed a hoodie and threw it on, pulling the hood to cover her head as she went to grab her phone, keys and leash before heading back near the door. She clasped the leash unto Harley's collar and headed out.

* * *

_A few days later…_

"What's he doing here?"

Aiden heard someone say to his right as he walked slowly and carefully through the crowd. He finally set his gaze on the person he'd come to see as said person began approaching until them met in the middle of the room.

"Where the fuck you been? You leave me standing here forty-five minutes in this DeMarco art bullshit charity." Jordi spoke, obviously none to happy about the wait. "I spent all afternoon gettin' her ready for you. She's oiled, she's loose, she's perfect…just the way you like it." He emphasized his point with exaggerated hand movements as Aiden rolled his eyes.

Aiden finally spoke, "You done yet?" Jordi shook his head in almost disbelief.

"This is another reason why we don't hangout." Jordi argued as he looked Aiden dead in the eye.

Aiden smirked and took a few steps towards him, "No, we don't hang out because we'd kill each other."

Jordi chuckled and started shaking a finger in Aiden's face, "I heard that one before but no you see, you, my friend, much like this shit-show, have no art, no nuance, no subtlety and it really irritates the shit outta me sometimes." Aiden rolled his eyes as he continued. "So, why the fuck are you here? Is there a target here?"

Aiden crossed his arms across his chest before answering, "You really wanna know?"

Jordi scoffed loudly, "Fuck you," he started turning around and Aiden was about to stop him but Jordi beat him to it by continuing talking. "You know what I wanna know? Is why I have to go every morning to her apartment to make sure she's alright? I mean, I genuinely care for the girl, I do but she's starting to think you don't care at all. Is that your plan, big guy? To just ignore her until she's 'safe'? She's never going to be safe!"

Aiden bit the inside of his cheek, anger flaring the more he spoke, "You really are going to push her away? She cares! Is it that much of an issue?" When Aiden didn't answer his question, Jordi just shook his head before lifting his arms and dropping them in defeat. "I give up, I give up. Who the fuck are you here for?"

"DeMarco." Was all Aiden answered as Jordi, being Jordi, furrowed his eyebrows. The tension that was lining his body suddenly leaving into a state of surprise. Almost like he'd forgotten what he'd just told him regarding Claire.

"DeMarco…oh shit." He paused and looked at Aiden before reaching for something in his back. "Well, you know what, in that case, consider that a donation." He handed the gun to Aiden who took it and immediately concealed it under is coat.

Jordi looked around the room and turned to Aiden, mouth at the ready to ask him something else, "So you got a plan there, tough guy? 'Cause DeMarco is not even here, oh," he paused, "you're using yourself as bait! Oh my god I love it because it's such a horrible idea." To say Jordi was impressed would be an understatement even if he'd never say it to Aiden's face. Something about the fear of boasting his ego. Or maybe he just thought he was crazy stupid for using himself as bait.

Aiden leaned a bit further as he looked over Jordi's shoulder, "Seems to be working to me," He paused and looked around, "Make sure DeMarco knows I'm here."

Jordi stared at Aiden for a few seconds before nodding his head and giving as slight shrug, "I like it. Good hunting." He said, tapping Aiden's shoulder as he turned around, yet again. "Stop pushing people that care away. You might need them one day." And with that Jordi left, leaving Aiden in his place and unable to place one thought after the other for a couple of seconds. He couldn't allow himself to have his mind taken off of his target. He had to focus. He hadn't realized when he 'befriended' Claire that things would turn out the way they were. That things were going to be this chaotic. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his coat and with his left hand, gripped his phone. He regained his focus and looked ahead of him, looking for associates of Joseph DeMarco.

He had a message to deliver.

* * *

_Whew! That's a whole 6,634 words of WATCH_DOGS and it was exhausting writing it. I can honestly say it was really hard to write this one because a) car accident and I suck at them, b) character interaction, because I always write and erase, I'm never satisfied and c) there's so much going on! I'm not completely sure of how I feel towards this one but maybe it's because it's almost 3AM as I'm posting this and that I'm exhausted seeing as I've been writing this thing for days now. _

_To whomever reads this, I want to know if there's anything you'd like to see in future chapters? Almost like a request of something you'd like to see but it'd be blended into the story and chapter. I want to push my boundaries and although I won't be writing smut for a little while (it's coming, it's coming) I will try out new things. I want to try out new things._

_Don't be afraid to PM me if you wish to speak because I love talking to people on here! _

_So, if you don't like, don't read but if you do, please review! Constructive reviews are appreciated. Please no bashing! _

_I will come back later during the day to correct any mistakes because I'm absolutely knackered right now._

_Enjoy!_

_(It's now over 7,000 words, ahhhhh)_


	4. Chapter 3

_So it's been a while since I posted but I owe a lot of the inspiration to MissAlisterCroft! My intellectual soulmate and a very good friend of mine now. I had a lack of inspiration but thanks to her, it was brought back. She gave a me quite a few ideas that are in this chapter and chapters to come! We're probably going to be emailing each other very soon to speak of what's to come next :P For those who haven't read her story, go NOW. It truly is an amazing and well written story. I will post a link to her profile on mine but if you want to know the title, it's called **Out of Control**._

_I do not own Watch Dogs. Just my OCs and the dog. _

* * *

Shattered_Illusions

Chapter_3

_Eyes_

It wasn't often that Claire got quiet days, the idea of no danger becoming foreign in her mind over the years. Looking over her shoulder now an habit since the years of having a stalker on her. Paranoia wasn't what she liked to call it but there always a lack of a better word, so paranoia it was. She despised the idea of knowing everything in a person's life because of technology but then the only people she trusted did just that. There was the irony to it. To make it worse, she'd done it herself a few times. The feeling in those moments weren't one of disgust but one of power. Who wouldn't feel powerful with the life of a complete stranger at their fingertips? Being able to ruin a life with one press of a button and make another one better with another. In the very few times she'd ruined lives and made another one better, she'd felt powerful and in control but time would go by and she'd feel guilt. This wasn't what she'd planned when moving to Chicago all of those years ago. She'd been orphaned years ago, sent to foster care and then nearly abandoned. She'd pretty much raised herself, got her high school diploma and once she was eighteen, she left the house and never looked back.

She was thankful to have heard the honk of a car or else she would have been hit by said car. She gave a shy wave to the driver before hurrying to the other side of the sidewalk. Hugging her leather jacket closer to her body she looked at the still very awake city of Chicago. People were still out enjoying company or a coffee. Others were in groups heading to the closest bar or club, ready for a night of debauchery. She remembered those years although she was never much of a drinker. She grinned at the memories.

Police cruisers suddenly flew by, their sirens loud and disturbing the quiet night. She frowned when two more flew by her, dangerously turning a corner. A few citizens had come out from coffee shops and given each other looks of pure confusion as to what was happening. The ground suddenly shook. She quickly ran to the corner where the cruisers had turned and from her spot she could see smoke rising up in the air. She threw her head back with a grunt and walked to the nearest coffee shop with a TV. She entered and made her way through a small crowd that had gathered around the one TV.

"I can guarantee you that it's Aiden Pearce." She heard someone yell out as the newscast suddenly showed Aiden's masked picture. She bit the inside of her cheek and gave one look towards the news reporter talking about an accident and possible murders caused by Aiden.

"Shit." She swore, heading out before making her way towards where the whole thing happened. She'd cursed herself for caring. She did every time.

People were roaming the streets, making their way towards what she'd heard was an explosion. She rolled her eyes. She turned a corner and could see a fire blazing in the distance. Her eyes widened and she could only hope he'd gotten out of there in one piece. She scanned her surroundings, trying to figure out where he could have gone. She'd desperately been wanting to see Aiden to talk but even more so now to see if he was still alive. Logically she knew he was, because he was Aiden and he was a hard one to kill.

A few other police cruisers rapidly drove by, passing by the explosion towards an unknown location. She turned her head to her right, seeing an alley and jogged to it. She took her phone out and within a few minutes she started tracking the police cruisers. She carefully watched, one hand holding the phone and the other one reaching for the hood of her other jacket under the leather one, bringing it on her head.

"_Possible Aiden Pearce sighting near Washington Square Park. He's on foot. Be advised, subject is armed and dangerous." _

"Gotcha!" She smirked, shoving the phone into her pocket all the while she took off in a run, the park being close by to her location. As to not attract any attention she took the small dark alley behind businesses.

The closer she found herself to the park the more she heard police sirens and gunfire. It was one gunshot that stopped her dead in her tracks as she approached the corner of a building in one alley. She looked down the alley and waited, the sound of gunfire and yelling seemingly growing closer. She leaned flat against the wall, away from anyone's view. She looked around for an escape and did a double-take once her gaze rested on a door. A password protected door. She grinned, taking her phone out yet again. She hurriedly pressed buttons, accessing the CtOS before accessing the building's security system. She looked at the password protected door lock and prayed as she pressed down a button that it would unlock the door. Although taking a few seconds, she felt like years could have gone by when the red light flickered to green. She pushed herself in and stayed in the doorway, waiting. _No other way for him to run. _She thanked the L shaped alley in that moment for making catching Aiden easier. The yelling finally was within earshot, where she could hear what they yelled. She readied herself, focusing on the sound of people running.

"STOP HIM!" She begged for her plan to work as the steps one of sole person approached her. From the corner of her eyes she saw a shadow and took a deep breath. She suddenly reached out and grabbed a man's arm. _Leather. Worn leather. _With all the strength she could muster she dragged him towards her, almost shoving him inside as she hurried and shut the door close. The padlock's green light then flickered back to red.

She turned around to have the barrel of Aiden's gun in her face. She scoffed, remaining silent while she brought a hand up and removed her hood.

"It's me." She stated as she tried calming her breathing. She watched some of the tension lining his body leaving, the gun soon disappearing under his coat. He didn't say anything, only giving her a small nod before he turned his back to her. Something she'd grown accustomed to. "Who was it?"

He turned again, eyebrows furrowed, "Who did you kill?" She asked again. He didn't answer and she scoffed, "Don't ignore me again, Aiden." She warned.

"Joseph Demarco." He replied, his voice sounding deeper with the mask acting as a sort of filter.

She nodded, "Yeah, yeah," she paused before looking back at him, "that'll get you in trouble just perfect. I mean, it's not like having Wagner on you, or us, was a problem, no…you go and get Demarco's people too. Great. The more the merrier." She ended with a scoff.

He sent her a glare, meaning not to push it, "You know," she started softer this time, "for someone who uses his phone so often, you seem to lack the knowledge of its normal use. If it wasn't for Jordi or T-Bone telling me you were fine, I'd have though you were—" She stopped, not able to even think about that last possibility. She raised her hands in mock surrender and dropped them, turning her back to him before walking towards another door that led to the front of what appeared to be a music store. She leaned against it, looking through the small window at the front store and the street outside.

Aiden watched her, finally taking in her appearance. The last time he'd seen her she was bruised and bloodied, nearing the point of falling unconscious. Her face had almost completely healed, aside from the still healing scars on her cheek and forehead. Her cheeks held a bit of color, probably from the running or the stress. She wore the same leather jacket, this time with a hoodie under it. He took a few careful steps towards her. The way her eyes shifted towards the ground when he moved told him she was aware of his movements. He continued, watching her reactions to every movement he made. She suddenly leaned her back completely on the door as he took two final steps, stopping to stand directly in front of her. Leaving little to no space between them, Claire being stuck between the door behind her and Aiden. She had closed her eyes, sucking in a breath before exhaling. She slowly opened her eyes to meet with Aiden's, the light coming from the small window on the door illuminating his features. A quick frown lined her features but left as soon as it'd appeared.

He felt her arms move from her sides upwards, soon feeling the tip of her fingers reaching for the bandana he still wore. Not taking his eyes off of her, he watched as she delicately brought his bandana down. Her attention never moving from the task she was executing. She reached towards the back of his neck and softly tucked the bandana under the collar of his sweater. Her hands then reappeared at the front of his collar, lightly tucking the rest of his bandana under. As foreign as the gesture felt, Aiden found some odd familiarity to it as he felt her hands rest on his chest before dropping them to her sides again. He watched her lick and then bite her lips, a nervous tic he'd noticed on her.

Her lips slowly parted, "Tell me," she looked up at him, reaching a hand up to tilt his cap backwards for a better view of his eyes, "why don't you let people get close?" He looked down at the space between them then back into her green eyes. "You know what I mean." She had expected a move like that from him, him motioning to the closeness of their bodies but they both knew that's not the close she'd meant or wanted with him, yet or if ever. She also knew of the chances she had to get an answer from him but she had to try.

He contemplated on whether or not to answer her question. He tried deflecting it on the closeness they currently physically shared but she was too stubborn to even be affected by the insinuation. His curiosity took the better of him, he wanted to know where this discussion would head to.

"Because I get people hurt." He had thought of adding a 'or worse' like he once had done in the past.

She looked down for a few seconds before giving a small shake of her head, looking back up at him, "Don't underestimate me." There was no anger or warning to her tone, just a statement.

"What makes you think _this_ has anything to do with you?" Just like her, he held no tone. The statement-like question made her gaze shift.

_This. _They both knew what the '_this_' meant. It was all about Aiden struggling to show care to certain people but particularly her. He had other associates that were female but none of them were like Claire. She was one of a kind. He always knew it. And the more he found himself colliding with her, the more his daily thoughts went to her. Particularly after the car accident caused by Wagner's people. That's one thing he wasn't ready to share with her, or anyone for that matter. His worry for certain people. For her. He always left their encounters troubled because she had once again forced her way into his mind and without really trying at that. And it bothered him.

"It's got everything to do with me." And she knew it too. His eyes settled on the white gauze on her neck sticking out from under her hoodie. He hadn't noticed that injury before. He brought a hand up and lightly tugged at the collar of her hoodie before she swatted his hand away, whispering that it was from the accident and she'd gotten a small infection. His hand fell down to his side, the urge to see the injury on her neck sending waves of electric shock through his fingers. "I get this feeling that you don't like me." She confessed, the look in her eyes telling him that this wasn't just something to get him to speak but an honest confession.

He stayed silent, unsure of what to say next seeing as he wasn't willing to confess anything. She opened her mouth to speak again then stopped, raising one hand giving a swift shake of it, "You know what? I don't care." She made a move to manoeuvre her way out of the position they were in but he grabbed her forearm before she could attempt anything. She looked down at his hand holding her in place and then back at him before leaning against the door once again.

"I don't want to like you." She frowned once the words left his mouth. She licked her lips as she nodded.

"Let's pretend that, uhm…that I'm going along with this…" She paused when he released his grip on her arm, "Why?"

She wanted him to say it and he was hating her for it, "Because you'll be used against me." Her jaw dropped slightly and he was awaiting the obvious question afterwards, question to which he'd give her a glare if he had to answer but it never came. She remained quiet and tore her gaze away from his.

She inhaled then exhaled before speaking her next words, "Even if it were to happen…" she paused, "Even if it were to happen I know you'd try everything to get me. And honestly," her voice shook, "for me that's enough." She knew it sounded ridiculous to him. She'd basically told him that as long as he tried to get to her, it didn't matter if she lived or died. And it was true, for her anyways. Judging from the balled up fist she'd say he didn't agree with her way of thinking.

"I'm not afraid of dying…" She confided. "Not anymore at least." She raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes were void of emotion as she stared into his green eyes. Looking at him this close to her, she couldn't deny that she'd wondered what it would be like to be kissing Aiden Pearce. The question had crossed her mind when she was taking his bandana off earlier but she'd pushed it aside, it would never happen. Aiden was an attractive man. Given, he was nearly eight years older than her but she'd never met a man like him before. The other guys she'd gone on dates with never went anywhere further than a second or third date. None had the appeal Aiden had. "I think the coast is clear, you should go." She whispered, her eyes still looking at him, searching for any type of sign that he was going to move.

She reached for his neck again and untucked his bandana from its hiding place, slowly bringing it up to cover his lips then his nose. She let her hands fall unto his chest, leaving them to rest there before reaching to tilt his cap so his eyes would be hidden under it. With her hands on his chest she gave a small push, "Go on, tough guy. I'll be fine." She gave him a small smile before giving him another push when he didn't move. She felt something warm grasp her hand. She saw his left hand wrapped around her right one.

"Stay safe." Was all he said before taking a few steps back, still looking towards her. She gave him a nod and he took out his phone, hacking the password-protected door before opening it. He looked back once and left, leaving the door open for her to leave. She regained her composure as she let a shaky breath escape her. She walked towards the door and peeked her head out, glancing around to find an empty alley before stepping out. She closed the door and with one swift movement she turned to her right, making her way back home.

* * *

She hadn't expected to meet Aiden anytime soon after their last meeting so hiding the look of surprise when she saw him walking out of Jordi's office four days later was impossible. She was walking down the long dim lit hallway that led to his office and about halfway through the door opened to reveal Aiden leaving, Jordi stepping out to see him off. Aiden looked up and met her gaze before they finally crossed path. She had expected him to walk past her without a word but only a nod, which was what she was used to with him. So when he stopped her by grabbing her forearm she found herself frowning, her confusion being almost comical to Aiden.

"I need to talk to you." He said as low as possible but loud enough for her to hear.

She looked at Jordi then back at Aiden, nodding, "It shouldn't take long…five minutes max if you want to wait outside for me?" His hand let go of her arm as he gave her a small nod and she mirrored his nod before walking down the rest of the hallway to meet with Jordi. As she stepped inside his office she gave him a small smile and she heard the door shut.

"I see you've found Aiden." He said. Even with her back to him she could almost hear the smile on his face.

She shrugged, "Found him four days ago. Actually I think I saved his ass but don't tell him I said that." She whipped her body around, facing Jordi as she leaned his desk. He was smirking. "Here." She continued as she shoved her hand inside her bag before taking out a small brown bag, throwing it in Jordi's direction.

He caught it just in time and looked in it, "Good. That'll teach the son of a bitch to try and steal from me." He said before taking out three stacks of cash, throwing it in her direction this time. She swiftly caught them before looking the amount over. "I take it that's enough for your services?"

"Ha! You make it sound so dirty." She chuckled, cocking an eyebrow and smirking as she stuffed the money in her bag. . He shook his head, laughing, as he took a few steps towards her.

"Tell me again why you don't want to work for me?" He tried, again.

She pretended to think before giving him a push, "Because I'm not into what you do. You kill people for a living."

"I've never sent you to kill someone. Never will." He said. She knew he was protective of her the way T-Bone was and one thing both would prefer her not to do was to kill. She'd done it before and all those times were with Aiden. She knew T-Bone wasn't particularly happy when Aiden dropped her off after her first time killing. She was in shock and unresponsive. But she'd gotten over it fairly quickly and never spoke of it again.

She gave him a quick look before shrugging, "I know."

"So why do you work with Pearce?" She scoffed.

"We both know he doesn't _work _with people. He works alone." She corrected him before adding. "Plus, I don't work with or for him."

"Then what was that about? In the hallway." He asked her, crossing his arms across his chest.

She pursed her lips, "He wants to—You know what? It's none of your business." He smirked, cocking one eyebrow at her.

"No need to be all defensive." He raised his hands in mock surrender as he walked around her to sit at his desk. She turned to face him, still leaning against his desk.

She sighed, "You're so nosy."

"That's what you like about me." He teased. He burst out laughing when she sent him a glare which would have killed him if glares could kill.

"You done yet?" She impatiently asked, putting her weight on her right leg.

"_You done yet?_" He mimicked. "You and him have a lot in common, you know?"

She grunted, rolling her eyes and throwing her head back, "Jordi!"

"Yes, yes we're done." He snickered. She tapped his desk then turned around to leave.

"Call me if or when you need me." She called out, opening the door and stepping out. She closed the door and walked down the long hallway before heading outside. She breathed in the fresh late night air of Chicago and closed her eyes. Jordi always had this talent to irk her every time she went by to see him. It almost felt like it was one of his favourite hobby.

Stepping outside she continued to inhale and exhale, trying to stop the urge to go back and stab him. With a pen. Or knife. _I wouldn't. _She would never do it. She still cared too much about him. She closed her eyes and continued enjoying the fresh air as she placed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Forgot about me already?" She jumped and whipped her body around, setting her gaze on Aiden's figure leaning on the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. She held a hand against her chest, trying once again to calm herself down. _It's official. People have it out to scare the shit outta me. _She thought as she took a few steps closer to him.

She waved a finger in the air, saying, "I didn't forget. I don't know if you've noticed but Jordi can be irksome sometimes? Yeah, I was just trying to convince myself not to go back in there and cut him into tiny pieces."

"That bad?" A smirk tugged at his lips as she sent him a glare. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What did you want, Aiden?" She looked into his eyes as she took a few more steps towards him, making sure to keep some distance between them this time around. He shifted his weight from one leg to another and frowned, raising one hand. She watched as his hand approached her neck and she tried swatting him away but when she did he grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him as gently as he could. She stopped struggling and he moved the collar of her leather jacket away from her neck, revealing the same, obviously changed since, gauze that had been present on her neck days prior. She grew impatient and gave a small, annoyed push, "You done?"

He released her arm, "Didn't get it checked out." It was supposed to be meant as a question but came out as a statement.

"I did." She stepped away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Got meds and got it cleaned up. It'll be just fine." She ended. She looked at him then looked down the alley.

"The guards are dead." That brought her attention back to him pretty quickly. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Guards?" She questioned. "What guards?"

"Wagner's law firm. Those two guards." He said. Her lips parted but no words came out. Her eyes had slightly widened but she tried to recover as quickly from the surprise of the news. She started fidgeting with the edges of her sleeves as she brought her arms down to her sides. She swallowed the lump that had suddenly grown in her throat before speaking.

"When?" Was all she asked.

"They found the bodies just over an hour ago." He told her, ready for the questions that were going to arise. She stayed quiet and slowly turned around, her back to him. She stood there for a few seconds before turning towards him again.

"Wagner didn't kill them." She speculated before giving a shake of the head followed by a nervous laugh, "I mean, they're the only ones that knew what I looked like. He couldn't have possibly killed them…he needed them."

By this point she was pacing and biting hard on her lower lip enough to where she could taste blood, "What if he tries pinning those killings on you?" She theorized.

"Nothing I can do about it." Was all he came up with as she gave a shaky laugh.

She got closer to him, as close as when they were in that music shop a few days earlier, "Be honest with me. Hey," She called when he stopped looking at her. She tilted his hat and grabbed his chin to make him look at her, that same hand dropping to his forearm, "look at me. Be honest and tell me…do I need to worry?"

She searched his eyes for any sort of sign of what his upcoming answer would be but she couldn't find anything. He was stoic, just keeping his gaze on her as he shook his head. The hand holding unto his forearm dropped down to her side and she gave him a small nod. _Nothing to worry about. It's what he's saying. _She thought. She trusted him. Weirdly enough, she did. To anyone who knew the both of them it always looked like they couldn't trust the other but when it was only the both of them, the mutual respect took over. Aiden wasn't the most vocal of people on what he thought or felt but his body language said a lot. She'd grown used to the answers coming from a nod or a shake of the head or even an entire body shrug. Smirks and grins were occasional but only when he'd succeeded in irritating her.

She realized how odd, but nice, for lack of a better word, it was to see Aiden as often as she had lately. She would sometimes see him once every few months and she was lucky to see him twice a month. Just pure luck that usually was. But since the Wagner law firm break-in, he'd been making more appearances in her life. Or maybe it was her in his. Either way, there was something comforting about the idea of him _possibly _worrying about her. It was different with Aiden. Always had been. T-Bone and Jordi had made it known really quickly that they worried and cared. Even if Jordi annoyed the hell out of her sometimes, she knew the man still cared. But Aiden, the man who was so closed off and unresponsive to any kind of emotion, was different. To have a man like him show some semblance of care or worry was something to somewhat cherish. And she did.

She cared for him. Deeply she knew that if she didn't set boundaries that those feelings could evolve into something she, and definitely he, would not want happening. His quest was his priority.

But she worried that quest could get him killed.

"Okay." She whispered, taking her eyes off of him. She sighed, rubbing her eyes, "Look, it was a long day and I'm surviving on barely any sleep…I'm—I'm gonna go home…" She let her sentence hang. If he had anything else to say he'd have to say it now. She looked back at him, focusing on his eyes yet again.

She mumbled a quiet 'stay safe' before stepping away from him, walking down the dark alley. Once she neared the end of the alley she turned around, Aiden had left. She nodded to herself and, with thoughts in shambles, started walking back home.

As a sort of habit she used the alleyways to get back to her apartment. It was much calmer and gave her the chance to mull over why the guards had been murdered. She couldn't make sense of why Wagner would have done that. Unless it had been someone else? But their deaths benefited her safety. Wagner would never have done that. And the idea that someone else was trying to protect her seemed ridiculous. It, for sure, wasn't Aiden. She wouldn't have allowed it. By now she knew it couldn't have been Wagner.

More questions arose as she slowly got closer to her apartment. She looked over her shoulder, expecting someone but the alley was empty. No one was following. _You're so fucking paranoid. _She thought before shaking her head. Stepping out of the alley and making a right turn before slowing down, noticing an expensive car parked in front of her apartment building. She slowed down and completely stopped when two large men wearing suits came out, one walking towards a door and opening. Her jaw clenched and her heart rate accelerated at the sight of the man stepping out.

"Claire Mackay." He began, his loud voice and British accent making her shiver. "Marcus Wagner." He introduced himself, a smirk appearing on his lips.

"I know who you are." She said.

"Good!" He took a few careful steps towards her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. "How about a chat?"

She smirked, "Well, you see, I was about to head home and take some well deserved rest. Kinda need it, you know?" She knew better than to attempt to run and that with those guys it was better to just go along.

"Well, you see, Claire…I've fancied a chat with you for a while now." He informed, chuckling. "You're quite hard to find."

"I'm a very busy person." She sneered. He laughed some more and looked down, biting the inside of his cheek before looking up with his head tilted to the side.

"Indeed you are but you see, it's not everyday that I get to meet one of Aiden Pearce's associates." He approached her as she crossed her arms and stepped away. "A beautiful one at that."

"That's where you've got it wrong buddy," she started, "I know of Aiden Pearce…but I don't _know _him." She lied, pursing her lips.

He raised one finger, "Tsk, tsk…you see, I knew you'd say that but if I recall…he saved your life that one time from a, a stalker I believe?" The smug smirk that appeared on his face enraged Claire, closing her eyes to keep her emotions in check.

"Yes." She couldn't lie about that one.

"That's how I found you." he paused and gave a shrug of his shoulders before continuing, "After my men went after Pearce and died while doing so, is when I noticed you…beautiful woman with light brown hair, green eyes, according to my security guard, and oh, the same leather jacket that a woman named _Blair _wore on the night of the break-in…funny, isn't it?"

"A lot of women have brown hair, green eyes and wear a leather jacket…" She trailed off, her jaw clenching. _If his goons weren't here…_

He nodded, "True to that, love, but you see…it's not everyday that a woman fits the _exact_ physical description of a prior Aiden Pearce rescue…"

"Ever heard of pure coincidence? Something that happens once in a while…" She sassed, sending him a smirk.

"…Someone," he continued like she never spoke, "whom the police thought he had been watching for a while…aware of the stalker. He was quite persistent on saving you that night…"

She chuckled, "He's good like that I guess…"

"Just like he was persistent to get that poor _Blair _out of that car…to get _you, _Claire, out of it." She threw her head back and shook her head.

"Stop playing games." She retorted. "You here to kill me or what?" She was tired of his games and if he was planning to kill her, she'd prefer he do it quickly than making her wait. He squinted before looking at his watch then back at her.

"I give you one week and within that time frame you have to give me Aiden Pearce or—" "Or what? You're gonna cut me into tiny pieces and send them to him? Like he'll care."

He shook his head and laughed, "That's a bit too bloody for my taste. You see, Claire," he took two steps and reached a hand out to touch her cheek, something she tried avoiding but he suddenly reached at the back of her head as he grabbed a chunk of hair, bringing her into his chest. His lips close to hers as he spoke and looked at her in the eyes, sly smirk spread across his lips, "I like to pry on my victim's fears…the one thing that scares them the most. Psychological torture is a _penchant _of mine. And I know what your one fear is, Claire…"

She held his gaze, hoping the fear she felt would not be apparent, "There's no use in running because I'll find you…and continue until one day that fear will kill you…" he pressed a soft kiss to her lips and chuckled, "I, too, am a very persistent man, Claire…I want you to remember that…"

"Crystal clear." She spat under her breath, still tasting him on her lips.

He smiled and released her, "Good." He turned around and exclaimed, "One week, Claire!" He headed towards the car and one of his men opened the door as he stepped in, sending her one last look before disappearing in the car. She watched his men step back inside the car and it sped off. Once it was gone she allowed herself to let the breath she was holding in leave her lungs. She brought a hand to the back of her head and massaged the area he had pulled before bringing her sleeve to her lips and tried wiping the taste of his lips off of hers. She looked around and then closed her yes, letting her body guide itself towards the nearest wall as she leaned on it.

"Asshole." She whispered. _No way I'm giving him Aiden. _She thought. Did he actually thing it was going to be that easy? That he could just ask for her to give up Aiden and _voilà, _there he was. She would never betray him like that but then again, for her safety Aiden would do something crazy. _I'm just a burden. _No you're not. She shook her head at the turmoil going on in her head. She went for her phone and unlocked it, dialling a number as her thumb hovered over the 'call' button. She groaned and pressed it, bringing the phone to her ear as she took slow steps towards her building.

She'd hoped she'd never have to go to him for something but there she was, "Aiden," she sighed once he answered, "guess who just paid me a visit?"

"Who?"

She bit her lip before answering, "Marcus Wagner."

She was met with silence. She wondered if he had hung up and gone for Wagner so she took the phone away from her hear and looked at the screen to see that he was still on the other line.

"Meet me at Jordi's—" "You do realize I just came from there?" She asked, exasperated.

"Claire…" She had opened her mouth to speak but stopped when he said her name.

"I'll be there soon." She said, softly and hung up.

* * *

Entering the same building she'd exited not long ago Claire walked down the same hallway and entered Jordi's office, meeting with emptiness. She closed the door and removed her bag, dropping it on the small couch on the opposite wall of Jordi's desk. She looked around the large room and to keep herself busy she walked around it, looking over everything wishing it'd take her mind off of things.

What were the odds that moments after Aiden told her about the guards being murdered Marcus Wagner shows up in front of her building to threaten her? He had done his research for sure. If he had been able to find her through police files, soon the police would be able to do the same. It was just a matter of time before they figured out who _Blair _was. She wasn't one for running, never. She usually was one to take a fight on but when the fight was bigger than her, and everyone around her, she found herself at a loss. She had seven days to give Aiden up or he'd do something to her. Not directly.

She scoffed, "That's how the asshole has been able to cover his tracks…he uses other people, none of his either…" she trailed off, shaking her head before the heavy metal door to Jordi's office opened to reveal Aiden.

"Where's Jordi?" She asked.

"Business." Was all he said as he closed the door and turned around to look at her. "What did he say?"

_Getting straight to the point. _

"He said I have a week to give you up or he's gonna send someone to 'psychologically torture and kill me'." She summed up, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jeans. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, biting her lips as she waited for him to react.

"Do it." Her eyes widened at his very, very stupid decision.

"Ahhh, no." She said. "It's suicide, Aiden."

"I'll be ready." _You and your confidence, it'll get you killed. _She thought, biting the inside of her cheek in anger.

"I'm not doing it. Nope, not risking it." She objected. He threw his head back with a frustrated sigh. "It doesn't matter if I give you up or not—" "It does—"

"NO! It fucking doesn't!" She argued. She breathed heavily and her nostrils were flaring, the muscles in her body becoming tense. She clenched and unclenched her fists, hoping a clenched fist would not make an attempt at Aiden's face in the upcoming minutes. "Whichever way it'll go I'll end up dead! He made sure to mention his victims…victims, Aiden! Yeah, of course he's gonna let me get away with that information if I give you up."

He remained silent and she opened her mouth to speak, "He knows where I live…" she sniffed and in that moment she realized that her eyes were wet. She wasn't full on crying but the tears were threatening to fall. It wasn't fear. It was frustration. She'd been truthful when she told him she wasn't afraid to die, she wasn't. But the idea of her dying because of her biggest fear…that was the one thing she was still afraid of. That damned man.

"Did he hurt you?" Was Aiden's first words out of his mouth after her outburst. She walked and leaned on Jordi's desk, thinking the answer over.

Her lips parted as she considered telling him, "If grabbing a chunk of my hair and kissing me is considered hurting, then yeah…but no, not really." She'd noticed his fists clenching when she'd mentioned the kiss. She frowned but decided not to dwell on it. He'd forget about it soon enough. When Aiden didn't ask anything else she slowly removed her leather jacket, throwing it on Jordi's chair. When she looked back at Aiden he had taken a few steps towards her and she furrowed her eyebrows at that. He stopped walking when there was little to no space left between their chests, much like the last few times she'd seen him. _It's becoming an habit and a bad one…_She thought, looking everywhere but his face.

"He's not gonna hurt you." He stated, looking down at her as she looked up.

"How do you know?" She asked, looking into his eyes and waiting desperately for him to make her believe that Wagner wouldn't.

"Because I won't let him."

* * *

_And here it was people! Chapter 3 of Shattered Illusions! Again I want to say thank you to MissAlisterCroft for the help! You've been an amazing new friend and I'm happy we've been able to become close through our love for Watch Dogs :) _

_I wasn't sure on where I was going with this until I got some help and slowly I'm figuring out where this whole story will be going. But like I said, if anyone who is reading this story would like to see something just PM me and I'll definitely try/consider it, if it fits within the storyline of course. I want to push myself. :) _

_There's a bit of development with Aiden and Claire, hopefully it's going alright. They won't be kissing too soon but it won't be too far. It doesn't mean the first kiss will make them an item. Hehehe. We'll see. _

_Review&Review! Constructive reviews are always appreciated :) No bashing, please. If you don't like, then don't read. _

_I hope it won't take me as much time as it did this one to post the next one but with The Walking Dead showing up on me like that, I might find myself working on more than one story in the next few weeks :) But fear not! I will not forget this story. I know a certain someone won't make me forget! :P_


	5. Chapter 4

_HELLO! Wow, so this is actually just a tiny, tiny chapter. It was originally nineteen pages long but I cut out a lot of it and most of it is being 'transferred' to the next one which should come out soon too since most of it is technically written. I want to say a big thank you to MissAlisterCroft for being a source of inspiration and if you haven't read her stories yet, YOU HAVE TO. Intellectual soulmate, I thank you :) _

_Italic scene = Flashbacks_

_Random Italic sentence = Thoughts_

_I do not own Watch Dogs. I do own my OCs and the dog. _

* * *

Shattered_Illusions

Chapter_4

_Alone_

"Woah."

Aiden stepped away from Claire when they heard Jordi's voice, which had shown how unaware they were of their surroundings when with each other. When she finally saw Jordi he had an eyebrow cocked and his arms crossed over his chest. Aiden now stood a few feet away from her while she still leaned on the desk.

"Was I interrupting anything?" Jordi asked, trying to hide the slight laughter in his voice.

"No." "Yes." Both Aiden and her answered as she cocked an eyebrow herself at his answer. _Yes. _She grinned and looked at Jordi.

"Well, was or was I not? Because I'm confused here, I mean…Aiden, there are motels for this." The moment the words left Jordi's mouth she wished she'd killed him earlier that evening. They both sent him a glare and she cursed her body when she felt her cheeks becoming warm.

"Jordi!" She called, sending him a glare. _He went there, that asshole. _

"Oh, come on, I'm kidding…" Jordi took a pause, walking towards her as he made sure to steer clear of Aiden. He still held his glare towards Jordi. "Alright, alright, why are you both in my fucking office?" He took a seat in his chair as she stepped away from his desk, making her way towards the couch and taking a seat on it.

"Hello, anyone gonna tell me what the hell is going on?" Jordi asked, looking between Aiden and her. She looked at Aiden who then in turn looked at her. Giving a scoff she crossed her legs then told him everything. From the guards being dead, to her going back home, Wagner being there to threaten her and to her calling Aiden so they could meet and talk about it. After nearly ten minutes of both men staying quiet, Aiden leaning against a wall and Jordi still at his desk, she finally finished her story and waited for a reaction. She sent a look Aiden's way before setting her gaze on Jordi, whom hadn't spoken yet.

"You're not going back to your place." He blurted out, standing up as he walked around his desk. She was about to protest but he stopped her with his hand. "It really doesn't matter if he gave you a week or not, Wagners' smart and he probably, most definitely, already knows you won't give Aiden up."

She sighed knowing he was right, "For how long?"

"As long as it takes." Jordi declared, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I've got a dog to take care of—" "The mutt's not coming here." He cut as she laughed.

"Who said anything about me staying here?" She questioned, now crossing her arms over he chest and biting down on her lower lip. "And he's not a mutt!" She defended over his comment.

"It's best this way." Aiden interjected as they both looked at him, Claire in disbelief and Jordi with satisfaction.

She stood up and walked to stand in front of Aiden, "You can't be serious? We're gonna rip each other apart!" She argued as they tried holding each other's gaze. "I can take care of myself—"

"Why'd you call Aiden?" Jordi asked. _I'm gonna kill you in your sleep. _

She turned to Jordi and said, "I called because I figured it was better than to lie! I prefer not having anyone pissed at me for lying about something like this." She explained before looking back at Aiden. "You guys would have found out eventually anyways." She mumbled before stepping away from him and taking her place back on the couch.

"I'll have T-Bone take care of Harley and bring you some stuff." Aiden informed as he stepped away from the wall. "I have something take care of." He gave Jordi a look, to which she frowned at.

"I got this." Jordi said before Aiden gave her a look, she held his gaze a just gave a small nod before he headed out. They stayed quiet before she leaned forward, putting her head in her hands and then running her fingers through her hair before leaning back again.

"I hate him." She announced.

"No you don't."

"You're right, I don't." She concluded.

Jordi approached her, taking a seat next to her, "There's a bed upstairs. No one's ever slept there so, you can take it. I should be here all night." She nodded, thanking him.

"I'll wait until T-Bone gets here then I'll see if I can sleep." To that Jordi only gave a nod.

"Can I ask something?" Jordi asked as she turned her head to look at him.

She blinked a few times before letting a small _'yeah' _escape her lips, "Did he, in any way, touch you?"

"To make himself clear he grabbed my hair and kissed me, so yeah I think that's qualified as touching…why?" She asked. He just shook his head and she tilted hers in response. "Jordi…" She warned.

"You told me to not go there so, I'm not going there." He pointed out, reminding her of the warning back at her apartment. She gave him a nod, letting her lips fall in a thin line.

This situation was out of her control. She knew deep inside that Wagner was much more powerful than her. He was very capable of getting her killed. He had his ways. She truly had no idea what she could have done alone, which is why she called Aiden. But she still hated feeling like a damsel in distress. But Aiden…once he had something in his head, you couldn't pry it out of there. He'd get to the bottom of anything that bothered or angered him.

"Jordi," she started after a minute of silence, "he's going after Wagner, isn't he?"

"Yeah." He confirmed, awaiting her reaction.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

It was nearly two in the morning when she heard the door to Jordi's office open. The creaking of the door startled her awake and in was T-Bone with a bag in his hands. She smiled, allowing a yawn to escape her mouth as she covered it. She stood up, walking towards him as she let him wrap his arms around her for a few seconds. She stepped out of his hold and thanked him for bringing her bag as well as taking care of Harley.

"No problem, sister." He said with a small smile as he waved to Jordi whom had just entered the room from the other door in his office, door that led to the second floor.

"I'll let Jordi explain everything to you…I'm gonna go change." She told him, leaving to go up the stairs and to the room where she had gone to drop her other bag earlier. Under their watchful gazes she left. They waited until she left to start speaking, with T-Bone speaking first.

"What happened? All I get is this urgent call from Aiden that tells me I've got to get my ass to her place to grab some stuff enough to last her a couple of days and to get Harley taken care of…" T-Bone rambled.

"That, uh, Wagner break-in you guys were a part of?" T-Bone nodded as Jordi spoke. "Yeah, well, Wagner himself paid her a nice visit."

"What!?" T-Bone nearly yelled as a look of exasperation lined his features.

"Told her she had a week to give Aiden up or she's technically dead." Jordi concluded, not wanting to explain the whole thing from top to bottom.

"Technically?" T-Bone asked, puzzled.

Jordi sighed, "He plans to psychologically torture her and then kill her but doesn't plan on doing it himself. Plans on using a fear of hers."

"Hunter Bennett." T-Bone said.

Jordi frowned, "Who?"

"He's her stalker…or ex-stalker I guess now that he's in jail." T-Bone assumed Jordi had no idea she'd had a stalker judging from his expression of pure surprise. "He terrorized her for almost two years before Aiden got hold of her profile. It was a couple of weeks before that creep tried breaking into her place and one night, it happened."

"He saved her…" Jordi muttered. He'd never asked how she met both T-Bone and Aiden. He'd never cared. All he'd cared about when he was first introduced to her was the fact that she knew how to handle guns and was a good escape artist. She improvised well and that's what impressed him. He wasn't going to lie and say he was never curious of the circumstances surrounding their friendship but she never brought it up so he never asked. But now it was so much clearer to Jordi why Aiden was dead set on protecting her. And why she was so goddamn reckless when it came to Aiden. They both cared more than the other wanted to admit. Although he was sure she'd told Aiden that she indeed cared but maybe not to the extent that was clearly visible to anyone who knew them both. "Isn't there some irony there? Aiden saving her from a stalker and he's…he's not a stalker, but he butts into people's lives without them knowing…"

"She told me something like that the first time I really, fully told her what he did." T-Bone started. "But she saw the good in what he did."

"I guess she did…" Was all Jordi was capable to say, a bit overwhelmed with what he'd just learned.

T-Bone chuckled, "She still struggles with the whole idea from time to time but she understands why…"

Jordi could only nod before asking one last question, "It's not just _caring _at this point for either of them…is it?"

"I don't think it is." T-Bone admitted. Both men stayed silent afterwards, waiting for Claire to come back down. When she did Jordi told her he'd be leaving her with T-Bone for a few hours but that he'd be back. She thanked him for letting her stay even if her reaction to learning the news was less than optimistic. He chuckled then left them alone.

"You guys were talking about Aiden and I, weren't you?" She asked, taking a seat next to T-Bone whom had sat down.

"I'm surprised you didn't tell Jordi about Bennett." She shuddered at hearing the name of the man that had terrified her for such a long time. It had been years since she'd heard anything about her stalker and she wished there were going to be many more years of not hearing of him, or from him.

"He never asked…I guess, I just didn't feel like he cared enough to want to know…" She admitted. "Looks like I was wrong."

She heard her friend sighed, "We all care. Some more than others." She chuckled then raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you going where I'm thinking you're going?" She asked. She had such a hard time being angry at T-Bone. He was just someone generally so positive about the outcome of something, anything, that it was nearly impossible to be mad.

"I was talking about me." She burst out laughing at his comment. He'd done it. He made her laugh. A genuine, pure and happy laugh. She couldn't stop laughing, despite her efforts to hold it in, and eventually her laughter came out as a cough, to which T-Bone tried to remedy with tapping on her back. After a few gentle taps she started calming down, still chuckling.

"Ah! T, you're the only one who could make me laugh in these kind of situations." She confessed, looking at her friend. He was trying not to smile, pressing his lips together but there was a definite glint in his eyes, one that screamed of laughter.

"I know how stressed you get. You worry too damn much." He told her as she nodded, agreeing with him. She did worry a lot. But then, this was a reason to worry. Her life had been threatened.

She shrugged, "I'm surprised I didn't have a panic attack like last time…you remember that?"

He sent her a 'are you kidding me' look, "Oh yeah, I remember and I'd rather not relive this…please."

She chuckled and hit his arm, jokingly, "Come on, it wasn't that bad…" she trailed off before watching his reaction, his eyebrows cocked, "was it?"

"It was horrible." He said. She gasped, hitting him one more time as he laughed. She joined him and the laughter died down, both falling quiet again.

"Hey, T?" She started, unsure of where any of what was going to come out was going to go. He looked at her and squinted, obviously waiting for her answer. "Things have changed a lot, haven't they?"

He gazed at her then looked at his hands, "Yeah," he agreed, looking up, "and they're still changing."

Her brows drew together as she bit on her upper lip, "It's kinda scary." She admitted.

They stayed quiet, unsure of what could follow her last words. He looked continuously at his hands while she stared ahead. He was never too fond of introducing her to Aiden when she started asking questions about him. He'd derived the subject on other things. After she took someone's life for the first time Aiden drove her to T-Bone's, to whom he'd explained what had happened. She hadn't spoken for the rest of the night but the next morning it was almost like it had never happened.

"_Be careful." T-Bone said as she was ready to turn the doorknob but something in his tone stopped her. She blinked rapidly and turned her head around._

"_What do you mean?" _

_He looked up from his computer screen and furrowed his eyebrows, "I just said…be careful. It means be careful." _

"_I know, but," she paused, "you've never told me that before. Be careful of what?"_

_He sighed heavily, leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, "Situations like yesterday." _

"_You mean Pearce." She corrected for him and she knew she was right when another sigh escaped his lips. "You never wanted me around hi—"_

"_I never wanted HIM around YOU." He retorted, cutting her off. In a lower tone, he continued, "He gets people hurt…"_

"_It doesn't mean I'll get hurt. Not saying I'm Wonder Woman but I can take good care of myself…I'm not the same girl I was before." She pointed out, bringing her hands to rest on her hips. _

"_I know you can take care of yourself and I'm not taking that away from you, but—" "But what!?" She interrupted his sentence. _

_He looked at her, holding her gaze, "I don't want you to get hurt because of Aiden." _

"_You know he'd never let anyone close to him, or you for that matter, get hurt." She said watching him bring a hand to his face, holding the bridge of his nose before it fell down to meet with his lap. _

"_I'm not talking about that kind of hurt…" His sentence hung and it clicked. _

_Her lips parted and she spoke, "I can't believe it…" She said in disbelief. "You—you really think I'd let Aiden Pearce get into my pants just because he saved me from that creep?! I mean, I'm forever thankful for what he did but I'm not that desperate." _

"_I didn't say—" _

"_No but you implied it." She said. "You have before but I never said anything."_

"_I just don't want you hurt, okay!? Is it that bad!?" He blurted out, throwing his hands into the air. _

_Her gaze softened before answering, "I'm sorry…I, I just, uh," she paused, "okay, let me try this again. I'm not used to have someone care about me…never have." _

_The tension in his face left to let a softer expression take place and he stood up, walking towards her, "Never?"_

_A shaky chuckle left her mouth, "Nope." She wiped the upcoming tears away before continuing. "I figured that if someone 'cared' it eas because they expected something from me…and that if I cared, they'd get taken away from me…that either way, I'd always end up alone."_

_She looked up at him, "It's stupid, isn't it?" She sniffed, wiping another tear. "I push people away and get them hurt by doing so…and I really, really don't want to hurt you." _

"_I'm stubborn." He simply stated. "I'll stick to you like glue if I have to but one thing is sure…"_

_She looked at him, eyes brimming with tears, "You're not getting rid of me that easily." She chuckled and wiped the tears away with one hand. _

"_That's so cliché." He made a grimace at her words. _

_A hand went to the back of his neck, rubbing it as he chuckled, "Yeah, well, it's all I could come up with…" _

"_I wouldn't have it any other way."_

"Him and I aren't that different, aren't we?" She brought herself out of that memory with the question. She felt T-Bone shift on the couch next to her. "Weren't…I guess I should say…"

His eyebrows furrowed, confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Aiden and I…" His mouth formed an 'O' shape as he nodded. "Keeping people at arm's length, pushing them away because we think it's for the best when—"

"It's not always the case." T-Bone finished for her. She shook her head. "You're not like that anymore…"

"A part of me still is…" She confessed. "It's never just gonna go away."

"Maybe that's why you and him work well together…" She cocked an eyebrow as she turned to look at him. "You see yourself in him and him in you, even if he'd never say it…"

"I never thought I'd hear you say something like this…" She told him and he gave a smile that disappeared as quick as it had appeared.

"He's brought you back alive every single time, I figured I should trust him with you." He admitted.

Claire only smirked, "What are you? My dad?"

T-Bone 'pfft'ed, "I'm just a concerned friend…you're like the little sister I never had."

She laughed, "Woah…you have a thing with clichés don't ya?" He faked a frown as he looked at her before smiling.

"I do but hey, they always make you smile, don't they?" He questioned, confident of the answer she'd give.

She smiled, "Yes. They always do." She patted his hand then looked at the clock, a yawn finding its way to her as she held a hand in front of her mouth. "Oh man, I'm dead…I'm going to bed, okay?"

"I'm gonna stay here until Jordi comes back." T-Bone said as she nodded. She slowly bid him goodnight, kissed his cheek, thanking him, and made her way to the stairs before turning again to look at him.

"Hey, if you have any news from Aiden can you wake me up? Or call? If you're not here…" She asked. He gave her a nod and shooed her away with a hand. She smiled and went up the stairs, pushing back the covers and settling herself in the bed. She left one light open, as she always did, and let herself drift off to sleep.

* * *

**Wagner's Firm**

"Matthew, call for the car." He removed his finger from the intercom button, awaiting an answer he never got.

He frowned and pressed again, "Matthew, bloody answer when I speak to you for fuck sake!" He exclaimed, waiting some more but hearing nothing. He furrowed his eyebrows as he stood up, walking around his desk. He made his way towards a small desk where a screen showing all the cameras on his floor sat in place. Reaching for the small mouse he moved it around and checked the cameras of his hall from a closer angle. A curse escaped his mouth as he finally spotted what looked like a body lying unconscious or worse, dead. He ran back to his desk and from a drawer removed a gun, removing the safety before heading for the doors. He stopped in front of them and stared for a few seconds. He extended a hand towards the door handle and pulled it open with force, taking barely two steps before falling backwards holding his nose. He raised his gun to aim but it was soon kicked out of his hand, the kick to his arm forcefully making it crack with a sickening noise as he yelled out in pain. Still keeping his eyes closed from being kicked in the face, he could only listen and dread the heavy footsteps that walked around him. He heard the gun that had been kicked out of his hand being picked up and more footsteps before they stopped in front of him. He unhurriedly opened his eyes, his eyesight still blurry but not enough to not be able to recognize the man in front of him.

"Aiden Pearce, is it?" Wagner asked, spitting on the floor. "Didn't think you'd be paying a visit…"

Aiden, still holding his baton in hand, knelt down as he pointed the baton between Wagner and himself, "You and I need to have a little chat."

* * *

_I know. I know. It's tiny but there's a reason to it. The exciting stuff is coming, I promise! This was definitely a filler chapter more than anything else. A bit more into the back story of Claire and some Claire/T-Bone flashback :) Currently I'm getting help from MissAlisterCroft for what's coming next in my story so it's bound to get interesting, I promise. If there are any mistakes, I apologize but I just came back from a road trip to my future University and I'm exhausted. I will correct them soon hopefully. _

_Hope you liked that little filler chapter! Constructive comments are appreciated. No bashing please, if you don't like then don't read. _

_Reviews please. Although I don't get a lot I'm still hopeful that one day I will :) _


	6. Chapter 5

_I do not own Watch Dogs! _

* * *

Shattered_Illusions

Chapter_5

_In Too Deep_

"I reckon this visit has to do with a beautiful young woman, yes?"

Wagner's eyes were set on the baton in Aiden's hand, awaiting the next blow if he wasn't careful with his words. Aiden stood up, walking around the office as Wagner tried standing up. He knew Wagner, deep down, was a coward and so when he made a run for the door Aiden had expected it and stopped him abruptly by grabbing his shirt, shoving him on the wall.

"Bad idea." Aiden growled, taking hold of Wagner with both of his hands and throwing him at his desk. Wagner yelled out in pain when his back came in contact with the sharp corner of his desk. Holding his injured arm against his chest he slowly regained his composure, immediately locking his eyes on Aiden.

"I can't believe I've got you this miffed over a woman, Aiden," He laughed, showing his teeth covered by blood. "It's quite pathetic really…" He coughed. A smirk spread across Wagner's lips when he noticed Aiden clenching his fists.

"I would stop talking if I were you." Aiden warned, taking a few steps towards Wagner whom only raised his good hand in mock surrender.

He spat again and spoke, "Do you know what I've always wondered about men working closely with women? Particularly the little spitfires like our dear Claire." When Aiden didn't speak he continued, "Is why they never try anything…if she were to work with me, I would have had her in bed with her legs spr—" The blow came at his nose again, but Wagner was prepared for it. He'd raised his good hand and landed a hit on Aiden but that little victory was short-lived, Aiden overpowering him again by sending a series of hits to Wagner's legs with his baton. He found himself on the floor, in worse shape than before. His whole body was aching but if he were to die by Aiden's hand, he was going to do so by making sure he'd make an impact on the vigilante.

Aiden stood, baton in hand, as he looked at Wagner. Aiden's chest heaved rapidly as he looked over the man on the floor, surprising even himself with how impulsive he'd been. It wasn't the first time he had heard distasteful comments about women but it was certainly the first time a comment had to do with someone he actually knew that hadn't been from his family.

"They'll get her, or you, killed, you know…" Wagner uttered, looking up at Aiden with a smirk when he furrowed his eyebrows. "Your feelings for each other…poor girl deserves better than someone who'll get her hurt because…isn't that what you do? Get people hurt?"

When Aiden didn't answer, "But it's too late now, isn't it? And you know it." He laughed, letting his whole body crash on the floor. "Both of you are in too deep."

The sound of sirens shook Aiden's attention away from Wagner. He frowned, unsure of how someone had been made aware of his presence in the building but that didn't have him running. In fact, he'd remained as still as a rock. Wagner was smirking, knowing he'd gotten under Aidens' skin.

"You should go…don't want to get caught, a poor excuse of a vigilante that would make you…" Wagner laughed, lifting his head enough to catch Aiden's gaze before it fell back down. He heard the steps of boots getting closer to him and when he opened his eyes, Aiden was over him. In one swift move Aiden delivered at punch to Wagner's cheek, enough to make him black out. He wasn't going to kill him, not until he had definite proof of the other hits he'd ordered. It angered him but if there was one way he'd want Wagner to go down, it would be that way. With proof to the world that a man so trusted was a monster. To not give him the chance to defend himself. To take his power away.

Aiden suddenly took off in a jog, exiting the office. He made his way down the now hacked elevator, making a quick escape out of one of the back exit. He used the back alleys to travel through the city, not wanting to attract attention to himself as he made his way back to Jordi's. He brought a hand to his left cheek, massaging the area Wagner had hit him. He looked at his hand to notice a bit of blood, remembering the rings Wagner had, which had most probably caused the cut on his cheek. He shrugged it off and continued his journey to Jordi's.

* * *

The creaking of the door opening startled T-Bone into a sitting position on the couch as he looked at the person making an entrance. He sighed when he recognized the cap and overcoat that belonged to Aiden. Rubbing his eyes slowly he stood up and walked around for a few seconds before starting to make his way towards the stairs to go and wake Claire up but Aiden's voice stopped him.

"What?" T-Bone asked, taking in Aiden's appearance. Aside from a mean cut on his cheek, he didn't look like anything bad had particularly happened on his little visit with Wagner.

"What are you doing?" Asked Aiden.

"She wanted me to wake her up—"

"Don't. Let her sleep." Instructed Aiden, hoping T-Bone wouldn't try to hurry up the stairs to wake her up. He was still going over the conversation, as small as it was, he'd had with Wagner and seeing her wasn't going to help anything.

T-Bone sighed, "You better not ignore her." He mumbled as he went to take a seat on the couch. "What happened?"

"I beat him up."

T-Bone rolled his eyes, "No, I got that from the, uh," he pointed towards his own cheek, "yeah, well, but you let him go?"

"The cops were coming." T-Bone seemed to be expecting another answer as Aiden rolled his eyes and continued. "I want to take his power away. Power to a man like him is more important than his life."

T-Bone nodded, looking down before looking back at Aiden, "How do you plan on doing that?"

"By finding evidence of him hiring people to do his dirty laundry." Aiden explained, pacing around the room, speaking low as to not wake Claire up.

"She's gonna have to stay here for a while then…" T-Bone let his sentence hang, knowing clearly that she wasn't going to be pleased. Aiden only nodded.

_Isn't that what you do? Get people hurt? _Wagner's words were haunting him and Aiden cursed himself for letting him affecting him that way. Aiden looked towards the stairs, a sudden urge to go up and make sure Claire was safely, and soundly, asleep. Untouched.

"Did you hear what I just said?" T-Bone asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he watched the vigilante look towards the stairs. "What did Wagner say to get you in that state?" T-Bone usually wasn't one to ask Aiden personal questions, but the vigilante's behaviour was causing him to worry.

"Nothing." Aiden lied. His answer had been too quick. And T-Bone caught onto it but didn't say anything, afraid of pushing it too far if he asked the wrong questions. "I have to go." He said, not giving T-Bone a chance to say anything else making a b-line for the door. Before the door could even close Jordi walked in with a confused look plastered on his face.

"What the fuck happened to him?" He asked T-Bone.

"Whatever happened with Wagner…it's what's got him in that mood." T-Bone concluded.

Jordi sat on his desk, looking at the door, "Yeah, I saw what he did too him too…it's all over the news already. Aiden messed him up good."

"How good?"

"A 'Wagner will be staying in the hospital for a while' kinda good." Jordi said as T-Bone sighed, shaking his head. "I'm surprised he's even alive."

"The only reason he's probably still alive is because of whatever happened over there." Jordi frowned, not understanding what he meant. "Whatever Wagner said…it got to Aiden, enough so where he wouldn't kill him. We all know he's capable killing someone in a matter of seconds…and he didn't."

"It's got to do with her…" Jordi waved a hand towards the stairs.

"Yeah…" There was nothing else T-Bone could say.

* * *

When the first two days passed she still didn't ask a lot of questions regarding Aiden's visit to Wagner, she'd seen it on the television what the aftermath of his visit had. It had made the news in all of Chicago. It was the talk of the town, Wagner's name was on everyone's lips and she was sure that even though he was in the worst of shapes, Wagner enjoyed the attention. But it was days later, when Wagner was released from the hospital and a grand five days after Aiden's visit, that Wagner released his first statement regarding the attack. And his words had surprised everyone present at Jordi's that day, leaving them with their jaws on the floor.

"_Aiden Pearce had nothing to do with this." _

The media had devoured those words up like there was no tomorrow. Articles in every single damn newspaper around the city questioning whether Wagner was telling the truth or protecting Aiden. But only few knew the truth. And those few could get the real, full truth from Aiden himself but he'd been completely unreachable and invisible to all of them. The only way Jordi, T-Bone and Claire knew he was still alive was because of all the chaos he caused around Chicago and he caused a lot of that. It's like he'd gone on a killing-slash-vengeance-raging spree since his visit to Wagner. He'd gone after big dogs in the mafia, sex trafficking trade, abusers, thugs, common thieves and just about anyone he could find to hurt or kill. It had been, in the last few days, a very destructive path he'd taken. The population of Chicago was divided into three categories regarding their views of Aiden's actions. The ones that supported him, the ones that didn't care and the ones that did not agree with his ways of dealing with trash. Black, white and a grey area. There was a bit of everything for anyone in this city. Always something to talk about.

The days at Jordi's were growing increasingly long and boring. She hadn't been allowed out by herself for anything. She was only allowed out if Jordi or T-Bone, or both, were there and as much as it infuriated her, she knew it was done out of care and worry. Luckily T-Bone, noticing how her boredom was progressively growing into anger, had brought Harley at Jordi's, without his knowledge, and Harley hadn't moved since he'd arrived two days prior. Jordi always sent Harley glares when all he did was sit there and wag his tail. As the days went by Jordi would occasionally pet Harley's head, without much affection in said gesture, and then just leave with hopes to come back and find a good, plausible reason to have Harley leave but without success. Today, day number six, Jordi had gone through that same small routine. He sat at his desk, made a few phone calls, stood up, took his jacket and on the way out petted Harley's head then left under the smirking faces of Claire and T-Bone.

She was chewing on her lunch as she spoke, hand in front of her mouth, "I find the idea of Jordi warming up to Harley really weird. He doesn't seem like a dog person."

"Jordi's not much a dog person." T-Bone said as he looked up from the computer screen.

She chuckled, "Jordi's not much of an _anything _person." T-Bone choked on his sip of water as he swallowed and starting coughing. "Okay, okay, that's not true and mean…he's just impatient. Pretty much like any men in my life right now."

He sent her a look, eyebrow cocked, "Any men in your life right now? Including me?"

"You're the exception," she paused as T-Bone finally stopped coughing, "and the other two are just impatient number one and impatient number two."

"Who's one and who's two?" T-Bone asked as she opened her mouth to answer but no sound came out. She closed and opened her mouth a few more times before eventually answering.

"I don't know actually…" She admitted before continuing, "they're different yet so similar with their impatience."

T-Bone laughed, "Do not let them hear that."

She stopped to think before laughing, "Oh man, can you imagine the speech Jordi would give me if I ever told him that?"

"The speech of death by Jordi Chin. Originally titled 'Do not _fucking _compare me to Aiden Pearce'." Claire could only burst out laughing at the mental image she'd just created herself.

"And Aiden would just glare." T-Bone continued as she only laughed some more. This was the only way she could feel better about the whole situation. By having her good friend take her mind off of things even if most subjects were related to it.

"Aw man," she paused as a yawn left her mouth, "you mind if I go nap?"

He waved her off, "Go ahead. I've got some stuff to do anyways, it would've been boring." She stood up and stretched.

"Alright, well, see you later I guess?" She wasn't sure if he'd still be there when she woke up.

"I should still be here but just in case, see you tomorrow." He gave a small smile as she sent a wave his way, walking towards the stairs.

When she entered the room where she'd been sleeping for the past six days she heard the sound of paws rushing up the stairs. Harley eventually appeared and jumped on the bed, waiting for her to get in. He rolled around as she changed into more comfortable clothing. A pair of leggings and a giant sweater later, she climbed into bed and settled herself for her nap, Harley resting at her legs.

It took Harley stepping off the bed in a hurry to wake her. She blinked numerous time before looking at the light coming from downstairs, light she could see from her half closed door. She furrowed her eyebrows as voices made their way to her ears. She was still trying to wake herself up from her nap, which made it a tad difficult to figure out who was talking. And, also, the fact that both spoke in near whispers made it even harder make out who they were and what they were saying. An obvious guess was that they were either Jordi and an associate or even T-Bone.

She quietly got off the bed and went in the bathroom, taking a quick look at herself in the mirror. She sighed, grabbing an elastic band and tying her messing hair into a ponytail. She came out of the small bathroom and went for ankle high black boots, putting them on. _Might as well take Harley out on a walk if Jordi or T-Bone are there._ She thought as she walked slowly towards the stairs, walking down in hopes of seeing who was there and to not interrupt. She winced every time the wooden stairs cracked under weight, waiting to see if the people downstairs would notice and by the time she'd gotten down to the last few steps they probably had, judging by the sudden silent. She closed her eyes and listened.

She heard Jordi's voice saying something she didn't quite catch but it was the answer he got, the voice that spoke that got her eyes to widen. She'd been in such shock from hearing the voice she hadn't heard in days that she'd remained completely still and only moved when she heard the heavy metal door open then close. She rushed inside the room, startling Jordi as he looked at her with confusion.

"Was that Aiden?" She asked. He pressed his lips together before nodding.

"Yeah," he confirmed as she moved towards the door, "Claire! Wait! Oh, fuck…come on…" She heard him curse when she exited his office as she ran down the dim lit hallway and pushed the other heavy metal door open. She looked to her left, nothing, then in front of her and there too, nothing. And finally to her right she caught Aiden's figure walking away, seemingly oblivious to her presence. She fell into a small jog and when he was about to walk out onto the street she called out to him in the only way she could think of that would not attract attention to him.

"Hey, tough guy!" She made a sudden stop in her jog when he froze. She stood there, in the middle of one of the three alleys in nothing but leggings, a sweater and boots in the almost freezing cold weather of the Chicago night, waiting for him to either walk away or turn around.

A sigh of relief left her shaky lips when he turned around and looked at her. He, he looked the same. Same cap, same bandana, same sweater, same leather coat, same jeans, same boots and just, just same Aiden. He slowly walked towards her as she tried warming herself up by hugging the sweater closer to her body. When he finally stood in front of her she looked up and noticed, peeking out from under his bandana on his left cheek, a cut. A healing one but a cut nonetheless.

She looked down before speaking, "You gave him one hell of a beating."

"He's still alive." He'd said it with so much anger, anger he obviously directed at himself that she felt herself shiver.

She looked at him, "It's okay." She paused, catching his confused look. "I know you won't let him get away and plus, he's hurting…it's good enough for me now."

She then added, "Makes up plenty for the threats and hair grabbing I'd say." Aiden's breathing seemed to slow down the more she spoke which reassured her as tried holding in a smile. She could still see the anger towards himself for not finishing Wagner off and hoped her words would convince him she wasn't mad, because she wasn't.

She saw his gaze travel down to what she thought were her shoulders but turned out to be her neck. She reached for her neck and touched the gauze that still covered the healing infection. She noticed the question his eyes held and swallowed the lump in her throat before answering his unasked question.

"It's healing just fine…I'm just keeping the gauze on because I'd hate for it to get infected again." She explained and some tense lines in his face slackened.

She slowly stepped closer to him as he watched her carefully with those green eyes of his. She brought her hands up very slowly and reached for his bandana which caused him to leaned back with his eyebrows furrowed before realizing what she was planning on doing. She was only going to take his bandana down just like she'd done back in that music shop. The tension that lined his shoulders had almost fully released but Aiden was Aiden, it was never truly, and fully, gone. She gently removed his bandana, bringing down and tucking it under his sweater just like she'd done before. Tucking it at the back of his sweater meant her arms going around his neck and in that moment she slowly allowed herself to delicately touch the hair sticking out from under his cap. She felt his breathing hitch for a mere second before going back to normal as she brought her hands to rest on his chest.

"I just wanted to say thank you." She told him, knowing he wouldn't answer her. She watched him for a few seconds as she bit her lower lip. She gently cupped his face and leaned forward, standing on the tip of her toes, as she let her lips rest on his injured cheek for a few seconds. His cheek was warm and right under her lips she could feel the slight scar where the cut had been. When she leaned back she let her thumb line the small scar before standing flat on her feet again, making her much smaller than him with her hands still cupping his face. She gave a small nervous smile before letting her arms fall to her sides. She took a few steps back before his hand stopped her. She looked back up at him with furrowed eyebrows and waited.

Still holding unto her arm he filled out the space she'd just created between the two and pressed his lips to hers. As it was starting to dawn on her what was happening, it was over. She kept her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted as her cheek progressively grew warmer. She could still feel his presence in front of her but she wouldn't dare open her eyes, out of fear of what would happen if she did. When she did open her eyes, he was gone. He was nearly out of the alley and barely turned to the side, giving her one last look before disappearing into the streets of Chicago.

The words she'd spoken to him earlier had suddenly rushed back into her mind. _Makes up plenty for the threats and hair grabbing I'd say. _Was what she said. He'd just done it again.

Aiden had just made up for that kiss Wagner gave her.

He definitely had.

* * *

_Why hello there? It's another Chapter! So this is again a small one but another sort of filler chapter! I really wanted to post this and just finished it :) Hope you guys liked it! I will be correcting the grammar mistakes tomorrow seeing as I'm exhausted right now so don't mind them for now! :P_

_Leave a review! Constructive comments I like and please no bashing! If you don't like, just don't read!_

_Next chapters are bound to be more exciting! Thank you again to my friend MissAlisterCroft for the inspiration! :) Intellectual soulmate, I love you! _


	7. Chapter 6

_I do not own Watch Dogs. Just my OC's and the dog._

* * *

Shattered_Illusions

Chapter_6

_Beginning_

Over a week had passed and that night still haunted his thoughts. It had been nine days since he'd made the decision, he thought stupid but other times thought of it as necessary, to go see Jordi and she of course had to stop him. It was unexpected to see Claire that night. All he needed was a new handgun and he would have been out but with Claire just meters away he should have known that would've been impossible. So when he heard her call out for him he couldn't deny the roll his eyes had desperately wanted to do and the sigh that had escaped him. It wasn't annoyance towards her but towards himself for being so sure this wouldn't happen. But he still turned around.

Aiden shook his head, taking his phone out to review again the profile of the hacker he was trying to find. He'd been stealing from people who didn't deserve it and from his profile Aiden determined they were all people close to him. His own family, girlfriends, because somehow that man had more than one, colleagues and just about anyone who was close enough to him. That hacker, Caleb Graham, wasn't a very experienced one, judging from how his tracks hadn't even been covered in the slightest. It'd surprised Aiden that no one else had caught on. All he needed to do now was to find him and scare him straight. Easy.

He found the cellphone signal to be two blocks away from his own location and with one swift turn he was walking towards it. The steady pace at which the signal was moving told Aiden that his target was most probably walking just like he was. Going from walking into a small jog Aiden carefully approached his target's location and looking from the picture on his phone to the people around him, he locked his gaze unto Caleb Graham. A man in his early thirties was walking a few meters in front of Aiden on his way to catch the train it seemed as Graham climbed the stairs leading to a platform. Aiden looked up and listened, hearing a train coming and from the looks of it, the one Graham was planning to get on.

Along with other people hoping not to miss the train Aiden started running towards the stairs, trying not to push anyone too harshly out of his way as he reached the platform. The people were coming out of the now stopped train and Aiden searched for his target. He caught sight of the blond man and made his way, as hard as it was, through the crowd to hopefully enter the same wagon as him. He knew that in a matter of seconds he could either miss the train or step on it last minute. Another option was to stop the train but that would attract more attention to him than he'd want to. And so, he pushed through the people and entered as the door closed behind him, barely missing his coat.

Aiden hadn't been very focused in the last few days, he'd been overly quiet with his actions lately and that had caused a lot of questions from the police. They were wondering if he was planning something bigger than the norm but in reality, there was nothing planned. He was preoccupied. With his family, the police, Wagner's people, Demarco's people and Claire on his mind, he didn't have much place nor time to think something 'big'. The train stopped at the next station and he looked for Graham, still standing up and waiting for his stop.

He pondered on what to do to Graham to teach him a lesson. He looked from his phone to Graham continuously before deciding. He started to go through his phone, sending file after file to the police department. He nearly shook his head. Him sending files to the cops…that would make some people laughing until their deaths. But he figured, let the cops handle that crap for today.

He rolled his eyes and the train stopped again. Aiden slipped through a few people and stepped off. And only then did he realize someone had been on the phone telling the police of his whereabouts, the sudden sound of sirens approaching in the distance now clearly near. He cursed under his breath and made a run for it. This time he wasn't as careful when bumping into people, not giving them any sort of warning as his body roughly made contact with theirs and often sending a few to the ground.

He could hear the gasps and scream escaping people's lips as he ran through the crowd, down the stairs to then end up on a busy street of people making their way out of his way to let him run, not wanting to block his path. He made it into an alley and ran as fast as he could, coming out the other end of the alley and facing his way of escaping.

He ran towards the motorcycle in front of him, the keys still in. _It's almost too easy_, Aiden thought as he mounted the bike and heard the screams of a man, he guessed to be the owner of the motorcycle, as he sped off, swerving between honking cars and soon disappearing in the streets of Chicago.

* * *

Claire jumped when the sound of screeching tires suddenly interrupted her thoughts, thinking she was about to get hit by the motorcycle that abruptly stopped in front of her. She held a hand to her chest, feeling her heart thump heavily against it as she threw her head back in near frustration-slash-relief.

"Jesus Christ, Aiden!" She cried out.

"Get on." He ordered and she scoffed, shaking her head.

"No way. I ain't getting on that thing." He gave her an exasperated look as she pointed towards the bike. He grabbed her arm and brought her closer to him as she avoided his eyes.

"Get on." She opened her mouth to fight back but he'd been quicker, "Claire!" He called out her name loudly, making her stop in shock of how sudden and nearly terrifying his voice had sounded like right then.

She pressed her lips together as he spoke, "Just get on the damn thing…" For a second there she thought he would have said _please _but the silence had been his plea for her to listen to him. She nodded, swallowing hard before taking his hand as she mounted the motorcycle, her heart beating so fast she feared it'd give out on her.

"You better have a goddamn good reason to get me on this thing…" She muttered under her breath as she pressed herself against Aiden, her hands circling his waist. He took off very suddenly, causing her to tighten her grip around his waist. He swerved dangerously between moving cars, which did not help her continuously growing anxiety on the bike. She wondered where he was taking her but then she knew better than to question him, especially when he was driving like a mad man. After driving around for a few minutes she'd taken to closing her eyes, not wanting to see the crazy driving he was doing trying to escape from whatever he'd just done.

He suddenly turned on a much quieter street, slowing down which caused her to slacken her hold around Aiden's waist. She allowed herself to look around and recognized the area. They were nearing Jordi's place. She pressed her head into his back, taking in his scent. He smelled of aftershave, rain and gunpowder, which, oddly enough, had become one of her favourite smells. It had grown to calm her down over the years but it was only Aiden that managed that. They all ended up smelling like rain and gunpowder at some point but it was different for each. The smell of aftershave, rain and gunpowder wrapped around her every time he got close to her, to the point where she could still feel him there hours after he'd gone. And it's what calmed her in situations like these.

The motorcycle came to a sudden stop in the very familiar alley as she unwrapped her arms from around his waist. She could feel her legs tremble even while she still sat as he dismounted the bike. She felt his hand gently grabbing her at the elbow, lending her help as she got off the back and steadily on her feet. She let go of the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and looked down at her feet. _You're in one piece and on the ground, stop panicking. _She thought to herself. She followed Aiden as he walked further down the alley to stand in front of the oh-so familiar door. She looked at him until he turned his back and now faced her. She caught his gaze quickly before looking down at her still shaking hands.

"Never again." When he stayed quiet she continued, "Never again are you getting me on one of those." She pointed towards the motorcycle.

"Why are you so afraid?" He wondered. It's true. Claire was never a girl that got scared easily. She wasn't scared of gunfire, car chases or even guys like Wagner, when they didn't threaten her.

"Reasons." She quickly said. She didn't want to have to elaborate to Aiden about her fear of motorcycles. She quickly looked at him and caught his look, clearly unsatisfied with her answer. "They're reasons, Aiden…reasons I don't _have _to tell you."

She didn't know what to do after that. She stood there, quiet and staring at the ground and asking herself whether or not she should move. His gaze was still on her, she could feel it and it certainly did not help bringing her nerves down.

She raised her gaze from where it laid on the ground to look at Aiden. In his hand was his phone with which he was doing something, she couldn't tell. Her lips parted but the sound did not come out of her, "You shouldn't worry about Wagner anymore..."

_There he goes again. _She closed her mouth and opened it again, looking at Aiden, "We don't know what he could do...he could still have Bennett come after me..." At that he looked up. She'd admitted knowing about the power Wagner held and that he could get her stalker released from jail. She stared at Aiden whom was staring right back. The first time both exchanged more than just a look since seeing each other again.

"Even if he gets him released, he won't get to you." Aiden said, not removing his gaze from as he took a few careful steps to stand in front of her. Her heart was beating so hard that she could feel it trying to push through her chest. She hated feeling that way and she hated it even more knowing it was him that was causing her body to react that way.

"How can you be so sure?" She asked, looking up at Aiden now that he towered over her.

"Because I'll get to him first." It was a promise. Something he'd make sure would happen because that was Aiden.

She remained quiet, trying to take control of her thoughts seeing as they were in shambles. She struggled to think of words before deciding against a speech to go with the simplest, and clearest, of words, "Thank you…"

"You don't have to thank me…" He rasped softly, leaning closer into her. _Oh, Christ…_

She dropped her head, looking down at their feet before forcing her eyes back up. She met his gaze, the heat radiating off of him in strong waves the closer he got to her. He quickly looked her over before he settled his gaze on her oddly similar green eyes. With his jaw clenching and then relaxing he searched her eyes for something she couldn't quite make out. When he didn't find what he was looking for he moved, a wave of warm air moving past her face as she felt a set of warm lips pressed against her own. The small startled noise she made had luckily been covered by the sound of their heavy breathing in the cold weather as she finally understood what was happening. What she'd so often envisioned when with him was happening. He was kissing her. And she found that the only thing she could do in that moment was softly lean against him, responding to the kiss. She felt the hesitation in the slow pace of his kiss but they both knew they wanted this as much as the other did. Doubt still crept in the corners of their minds as they continued kissing. Trying to put those thoughts to rest she brought her hands up his chest, gripping at his collar before slowly letting them grab at the nape of his neck trying to bring him closer to her as he leaned back, pulling away from the kiss. She could only let the corners of her lips curve into a small smile, her eyes opening and closing, "That was—" He silenced her again by pressing his lips against hers, slowly resuming the kiss.

With less hesitation present on his part he grabbed at the nape of her neck with one of his hands, bringing his head lower to make it easier to the petite woman kissing him. The kiss was soft, long and slow. Something both were not accustomed to. Gradually the kiss got slower and slower as they both searched for air. They broke apart after what seemed like hours as he felt her rest her forehead against his heaving chest. She looked up and cupped his face under his watchful gaze. She brought her lips to his one last time in a lingering kiss. Before leaning further back Aiden leaned in again, angling his face towards hers.

"I guess I _am_ interrupting something." Both of them stepped away from one another, cursing Jordi at his ill-timed arrival. She sent a glare in Jordi's way as he looked between both Aiden and her, a sly smirk spread across his lips.

"You better say something pretty fucking interesting before I go over there and wipe that smirk off your face." She threatened, knowing he was clearly amused by the situation.

"I've got a job for you." He announced, pointed a lazy finger towards Claire. She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Let's get inside, it's fucking cold out here." Jordi said as he held the door open. She sent a look Aiden's way then walked towards the building, entering. She felt Aiden and Jordi's eyes staring at the back of her head. She opened the door to his office and waited for both of them to follow. Jordi closed the door and went behind his desk as she stood on the other side, arms crossed and waiting for him to speak. Jordi picked a piece of paper and handed it to her as she looked at what was written on said paper.

She rolled her eyes, an exasperated sigh leaving her lips, "Him again? Hasn't he learned anything?"

"Looks like the fucker hasn't." Jordi answered, taking a seat.

She looked around the room, her eyes coming in contact with Aiden's before looking down and back at Jordi, "How much does he owe this time?"

Jordi looked at the computer screen silently for a few seconds before saying, "He owes 10K."

She nearly choked on her own saliva before chuckling, "He for sure ain't planning to stay here with that kind of money."

Jordi scoffed, "Which is why you're going to go and get it for me tonight, preferably."

A small smile appeared on her face, "Is that an order, _chief_?" She knew he hated when she called him that and the frown on his face proved it once more.

"Cute." Jordi said as he went for the gun on his table, picking it up and handing it to her. "Scare him a little."

She smirked, "Sure thing." She finished as she took the gun out of his hand, putting the safety on and shoving it in her bag. Jordi walked around the desk to face her and handed her ammo, just in case. She thanked him and put those in her bag. She looked down then at Aiden who stood there, looking at the two, before looking back at Jordi.

"Do you guys need a minute to finish what you started out there before you go or…?" She glared at Jordi before punching his arm as hard as she could, which elicited at grunt of pain from Jordi, before walking towards the metal door. She looked back at both men, Jordi massaging his arm and Aiden looking back at her before she left. The door slammed loudly when she closed it, making Jordi wince before he looked at Aiden.

"You lucky son of a bitch," Jordi started which caused Aiden to cock an eyebrow at the Asian man, dreading whatever was going to leave his lips next, "I wish I had whatever it is you have…then maybe she'd be all over me instead of you." There was a chuckle at the end of his sentence but that soon turned into yelling at Aiden to let him go as the vigilante grabbed Jordi by the collar, slamming him against the wall.

"You better shut up." Aiden growled as Jordi told him he was joking, giving a firm push at Aiden's chest, his grip loosening as he let Jordi go. The Asian man fixed his clothing as he watched Aiden turned around, his shoulders obviously tense.

"Next time you do that I'll have a bullet put into your skull." Jordi's empty threat made Aiden turned his head around, a very small smirk at the corner of his lips.

"I'd like to see you try." And with that he left, leaving an annoyed Jordi behind.

"Asshole."

* * *

Claire stepped out of her car, looking at the warehouse in front of her. She took the piece of paper Jordi had given her and looked at the address once again, confirming she was in the right place. _What the hell are you doing here? _She thought as she armed herself with not only her gun but the gun Jordi had provided for her. Before closing the car's door she slipped leather gloves on, as to not leave any prints, in case she did touch anything, which is something she'd been trying to get used to.

She looked up to see if there were any camera in the area which, to her absolute delight, there weren't. She continued forward and noticed, pretty quickly, a black SUV parked right outside the warehouse. She frowned, continuing to move as she entered through an open door. She could hear someone shuffling around, the movements echoing off of the walls surrounding them. She took the gun given by Jordi, taking the safety off and continued walking, gun in hand, until she reached an opened up area with very little light. There stood the man she'd come to see, obviously hurrying up to pack money inside a duffle bag.

"Bennie, Bennie, Bennie…" She called, seeing the man freeze before slowly turning around. She'd noticed the look he gave to his own gun but she'd raised her gun just in the slightest and he simply turned fully around to her. "Where do you think you're going with all that money?"

"Away." Was all he said, definitely watching her move closer to him.

She faked a pout, "Without saying goodbye? Now, that hurts."

"Well, I was in a hurry, you see…" He stuttered before swallowing hard.

"I can see that…" Her sentence hung as she looked at him. "Don't think of bolting out of here…ain't gonna work." She advised.

"What are you gonna do, huh? Kill me?" He stammered, nervously playing with the hem of his sweater.

She gave a small smile, "Nah, you see…" she paused, "Jordi is still thankful for all that you've done for him. Says you were one of his best…until you tried stealing from him and killed his actual best."

He gulped, "He _did _send you to kill me."

"Nope." She said, accentuating the 'p' sound in the word. "He doesn't send me to kill."

He coughed, "No, but to scare shitless he does!" He argued. She smirked.

"That he does." She admitted. _It's a nice for a change to be the one to scare and not get scared shitless. _

"What _do _you want?" He blurted out loudly, his voice echoing.

"Give me the money and leave. Or else." She tried.

He starting pacing, getting dangerously close to where his gun was, "Or else what?"

"What do you think, Bennie? Huh?" He stayed quiet and she rolled her eyes. "He's gonna send someone to finish you off."

He started shaking his head, "I _need _the money. Don't you fucking get it?"

"Hey!" She yelled, taking heavy steps towards him with a finger pointed at him, "So does he! That money ain't yours to begin with!"

"You ain't leaving with it." He cautioned.

She shook her head, scoffing, "Neither are you."

He stopped abruptly, "Well, then…" She expected him to go for his gun so when he said, "Hey guys!" She found herself frowning as she saw two men coming out of nowhere, guns in hand and now standing behind Bennie. "Get rid of her."

She pressed her lips together, raising her gun quickly enough to fire two rounds and seeing one of the bullets hit Bennie right in the neck as gunfire started to erupt, running to take cover behind crates lying around. Going into a crouching position she readied herself to come out from behind, but the loud blast of a gunshot tearing through the crate next to her sent her flying to the floor with surprise. _Shotguns, fuck! _She stared at the torn down crate before looking at another pile of wooden crates lying around a bit further away. She looked from the torn crate to the other crates meters away and cursed, making a run for it as the sound of gunshots rang through the air yet again.

The excruciating pain of a bullet tearing through her skin sent her to the floor as she dragged herself to hide behind the wooden crates. With her free hand she went to apply pressure to the wound, the bullet having lodged itself into her left bicep. She threw her head back as she bit on her lower lip, tasting blood after biting on unto it too hard.

"Come outta there girly." One guy called out as the gunfire stopped. "You ain't gonna make it."

"Hey, hey, go take a look at Bennie, man." The other told the first one. She heard him walk a few steps before stopping.

"Oh, fuck! He's dead!" One cried out as the other started cussing.

"Alright, alright, calm down. She's hurt, man! Let's just kill the bitch, take the money and bolt." He explained. She heard the steps of one getting closer to where she hid. She quickly lied down, raising and aiming her gun at the men that now towered her, shooting him in the head as his body fell limp next to her. She saw the shotgun stuck under his body and she reached for it.

"Bitch!" The last one screamed. "I'm gonna make you pay for this!" She concentrated to the best of her ability on his position. She suddenly rose from her hiding place, gun raised and her finger ready to pull the trigger at any time. She took slow, careful steps as she stayed alert to any movement around her. She abruptly turned to her left when she heard shuffling. She stopped, waiting to see if she could hear anything. She had her back to where Bennie's body laid, taking careful steps to get the duffle bag.

"Hey, asshole!" She called. "I called the cops. They're on their way." She was welcomed with silence as she cursed under her breath. _Lying's not gonna work. _The sound of shuffling once again caught her attention as she heard it come from behind her. She swiftly turned around and fired two shots, hitting the last one in the head and chest as his body fell to the ground right next to Bennie's. She kept her gun raised until her left arm starting hurting again. She'd completely forgotten about the pain in the last few seconds before shooting that last one. She brought her gun down and made a run for the duffle bag, counting quickly and accurately the amount before closing it. She threw it over her right shoulder and made a bee-line for her car.

She threw the bag in the back seat and got into the driver's seat, starting the car as she threw the gone on the passenger's seat. She sped off, driving as fast as she could and trying to put as much distance as she could between the warehouse and herself. She took her cellphone out, breaking her one rule, and dialled. The phone rang and rang before the caller finally picked up.

"Andrew here." She laughed at his overly cheerful answer.

"It's me, Claire." She answered.

"Holy shit! Hey! How you doin'?" He asked as she looked at her arm, wincing.

"You still work at the vet?" She asked and was welcomed with silence before he answered.

"Yeah…" he paused. "Why?"

She sighed, "You got any time for a human patient?"

* * *

_HELLO EVERYONE! I deeply apologize for the lack of Chapter lately but with University soon starting and the move coming closer and closer, I've been busy! I want to thank my Intellectual Soulmate (MissAlisterCroft) for all the help that you have provided for this chapter. Without you I wouldn't have posted this today =) _

_Please review & comment =) Constructive comments are appreciated and if you don't like then don't read. No bashing, please =) _

_I'm gonna correct any mistakes tomorrow or later in the week =)_

_Enjoy! =)_


	8. Chapter 7

_I do not own Watch Dogs. I only own my OCs and the dog._

* * *

Shattered_Illusions

Chapter_7

_Oh, Hey Bennie_

"Fuck." Is what was meant to come out as clear as day but with thick piece of cloth in her mouth, it came out as a muffled. She bit harder on the towel in her mouth as she felt Andrew wriggle the bullet out of her skin. She'd arrived twenty minutes earlier and her friend had been prepared, medical supplies all lined out on a table. She opened her eyes ever so slightly as she saw the bullet being held by the tweezers in her friend's gloved hand. With his other hand he removed the towel that was in her mouth, gently dropping it on her leg as he set the bullet down in a metal container. He sent her a look as he reached for the suture kit, opening it and readying the tools to stich her wound up. A few seconds later she saw the needle holder in his hand, needle and surgical suture at the ready. She gave him a nod and with a warning he pierced the skin. Claire closed her eyes, wincing as her grip on the chair tightened.

"Do I wanna know?" Andrew asked, looking up from his work for a mere second as he made sure to catch her gaze before going back to work.

She shook her head, sighing, "You, uh, you really don't…fuck." She cussed, Andrew apologizing.

"Does this have anything to do with a certain vigilante?" She chuckled. _Of course you'd think that. _She thought as she once again gave a small shake of the head.

"Actually, no." She snickered, hissing when he tugged on her skin a bit too hard. "Nothing to do with him…just someone who came a bit more prepared than I'd thought…"

He scoffed, "Yeah, well, whoever that asshole was nearly killed you…"

"A day in the life of Claire Mackay." She retorted, giving him a small smile as he frowned at her. "Oh, what now?" She exclaimed, raising and lazily dropping her other arm in her lap.

"Ugh…nothing," his sentence hung until she gave him a push of the foot before continuing, "Tommy know anything about this?" Her face dropped, lips falling into a thin line and her eyes closing.

She slightly shook her head, "No." She saw Andrew's lips parting and cut him off before he could say anything. "And he don't need to."

Andrew rolled his eyes, shaking his head before surrendering, "If you say so."

"I do say so…now shut it and stitch me up." She said as he cocked an eyebrow at her, his jaw tensing.

"Yes ma'am." It was her turn to roll her eyes as he finished stitching her up, not being careful at all to the pain he was causing her. She'd been a bitch, she'd deserved it. When he finished she watched as he cleaned up the mess she'd caused and she quietly took the gauze and tape he'd left, covering the wound the best she could.

Seeing her struggle he came over and helped her wrap the gauze around her bicep, making sure it wasn't too tight before applying some medical tape to hold it in place. She thanked him and he gave her a nod. She watched him move before rolling the sleeve of her shirt down. She walked towards her jacket and gave it a once-over. _Damn thing is ruined. _She thought as she threw it over her good shoulder.

"That's why you and I broke up by the way." Andrew said, turning to her. He was leaning against a counter, a sink where he'd put all of the medical tools behind him. She closed her eyes before giving him a look, pleading with him not to go there. She knew he still cared about her, more than just caring for a friend. She sometimes thought he might still love her but she wouldn't dare ask, afraid of the answer and afraid to hurt him. "You're too damn stubborn."

"Ain't that why you fell for me in the first place?" She asked, knowing something like this would usually shut him up. But it seemed that it wouldn't work in her favour. "Can we please do this another time? I'll let you reprimand me for all those time I pushed you away after being attacked or how I literally was the worst girlfriend _ever _but right now…I, I just can't do it." She weakly answered, a yawn threatening to leave her mouth as she looked at him with her whole body slightly hunched over in exhaustion.

He nodded, looking at the floor then back at her, "I'll hold you to that." A sigh of relief escaped her lips as he continued, "You owe me big by the way—"

She raised her good arm, stopping him from going any further with that he was going to say, "I know, I know…I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." He said. Her lips fell into a thin line. She hadn't been the most faithful promise-wise before, during and after their relationship so she understood the fact he didn't expect much from her.

She gave a small nod, "Then I take it back." He swallowed hard then handed her a small bag. She frowned and reached for it.

"Gauze and everything you'll need to take care of that." He pointed to her arm before continuing. "I take it you know how to take care of it?"

"Yeah…" She whispered. She thanked him as he walked her to her car, parked in the back parking lot of the building. He opened the door for her and she sat in the driver's seat, setting the bag he'd given her on the seat next to her. She looked up at him and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Go." He said. "Try not to die, would ya?" She nodded, laughing a little as he closed the door and stepped back. She started the car, backing up and giving him one last wave before exiting the back parking lot, leaving.

* * *

Claire had been leaning against her car for the last five minutes since she'd arrived in front of Jordi's place, her car parked in the familiar alley. She'd been debating on whether or not she should go in now and if she did, who would be there? _Please let it be empty. _She hoped but knowing her luck, the whole world could have been waiting for her in there. Her phone suddenly rang and she looked at the caller ID. _Jordi. Great timing, buddy. _She shook her head and answered, moving from where she leaned against the car.

"Hey J—" "Where the _hell_ are you?" She winced at the tone of his voice as she moved to the trunk of the car.

"Uh, on my way." She answered, shaking her head. She took opened the trunk, throwing her leather jacket over her shoulder and grabbing the duffle bag.

She closed the trunk as he spoke, "You better get—" "Oh Christ, Jordi, calm the fuck down would ya? I'm on my way." She said, continuing to try to get the Asian man to calm down as she entered and walked down the long hallway before finally reaching the metal door she dreaded. With a sigh she opened the door, still able to hear Jordi yell through the phone as she entered the office.

Jordi, phone to his ear, turned around, "Where the hell have y— what the fuck happened to you?" He set the phone on his desk and walked around it until he reached, grabbing the bag out of her hand and throwing it on the floor. "You okay?"

She nodded, "I'm—" "Claire, screw the '_I'm fine' _crap." Her eyes widened a bit, looking at the man in front of her. He'd always been very blunt but never like that with her. _He's worried. _She thought as she decided not to go and be a smartass.

"What happened?" He asked. She sighed and took her jacket off of her shoulder, throwing it on the bag that sat on the floor. She raised her sleeve and showed him the gauze.

"Bennie came prepared." She said, Jordi immediately went into a cussing spree as he paced around his office. "He had two guys with him, one shot me. He probably hired them after my last visit to him."

He looked at her in almost disbelief as she cocked an eyebrow at him, "What?" This look of pure realization lined his face but he still asked.

"How'd you get the bag?" She sighed and looked at him.

"I, uh, I killed them." Jordi covered his face with a hand as a sigh escaped his lips. "What?"

Jordi turned to her, "T-Bone's gonna kill me."

"I had to do it. He'll get that…to kill or be killed, right?" She said, giving a slight shoulder shrug.

Jordi nodded, "Yeah…" She looked up at him and noticed his eyes still held something to them. "Jordi, just tell me."

"Someone else is gonna be on my ass." He said, shoving one of his hands into his pants' pocket.

She sighed. _Of course_. She'd forgotten and how could she? T-Bone wasn't who Jordi had to worry about. Aiden was. And if she knew him well enough, Aiden was probably well on his way. She closed her eyes, feeling the onset of a headache appearing. She'd found that since they'd kissed, she had found this new confidence. She didn't feel as hesitant to confront Aiden as before.

"Let me deal with Aiden." She told him.

"You sure about that?" He asked her, eyebrows furrowed.

She nodded, biting down on her lower lip, "Yeah. I'll stay here though so," she paused, looking at the door, "get your ass outta here. If I know him well enough he'll be here any minute."

He didn't move, he just stood there and looked at her. She sighed and pointed towards the door, "Jordi…"

"Alright, alright…I'm going." He grabbed his cellphone and gave her one last look. "Stay safe, yeah?"

She gave him a small smile, "Yeah." It was only a whisper but he still heard it. He nodded and headed towards the door. She noticed the small hesitation in his steps before he headed out but still left, without looking back. A sighed escaped her lips yet again as she paced around his office.

She knew. Claire knew he was getting closer, probably in a panic or pure anger.

Somehow his emotions always showed when it came to her and that never happened with him, aside from anything that had to do with his family. She hated bringing out this kind of emotion in him because it was those emotions that could, or would, cause him to make a mistake that could put him in danger. She did not want to be the reason why he would end up hurt. Or worse, dead.

The creaking of the metal door caused her to whip her head around, her heart leaping in her chest in surprise. Her gaze rested on Aiden as he turned around and finally set his gaze on her. She noticed the way his eyes roamed her body until his gaze set itself on her injured arm and that's when she saw it, anger and worry but he remained put. Not moving an inch and just looking at her.

"They're dead." She started. "And I'm fine." His eyes went to her arm again and she shook her head.

"He shot you." The tone of his voice was low and gruff.

She gave a slight shrug, "And they're dead." She bit her lip and continued, "I knew you'd follow."

"I didn't."

"Not physically but here you are." She looked down to her arm and looked back at him, "You think I can't take care of myself?"

He stayed silent and never answered her question because she already knew the answer. She could take care of herself and Aiden knew that, she knew he knew. It was simply his way of worrying. She sighed and held a hand to her forehead, "I'm sorry…" she whispered, looking up at him. Then she remembered the earlier events. Him kissing her and kissing him back. She felt her cheeks becoming warmer and hoped they weren't getting redder.

He took a few steps towards her and she watched his every move, Aiden moving unpleasantly slowly and keeping his intense gaze on her. As he reached her his hand gently grabbed her bicep, looking at the blood still on her arm. His eyes roamed her body, from up close this time, again as if to make sure for certain that she was fine. And eventually their chests were nearly touching, something that seemed to have grown into an habit for the both of them. With her good arm she gently pushed at Aiden's chest, her hand lying flat against his chest. Her head fell down, the floor seemingly looking more interesting than the man in front of her.

And then he stepped back. Claire's heart dropped a bit, neither hurt or surprised by the movement but simply relieved. She didn't know if her body could handle any sort of physical contact with the man, the previous close contact having caused numerous odd feelings to go through her body. She'd never reacted this way with any man but Aiden, he brought out something in her. Her core had ached madly when he was kissing her, the need for more of him increasingly getting worse. She looked up and met with his eyes.

"I assume you made sure there was no evidence I was there?" She asked him and he nodded. She pressed her lips together, "Thank you." It came out as a whisper, barely audible.

"Who took care of it?" Her eyebrows furrowed at the question and she then noticed the look he gave her arm.

"A friend. He's a vet." Aiden shifted.

"Did _he _ask questions?" He asked, pacing around the office.

She rolled her eyes, "He's not of any danger to us. He won't rat me out or you."

He gave her a nod and she nodded back, "You should rest." Aiden simply pulled his bandana up to cover half of his face and looked back at her. He stayed there for a few seconds then move towards the door before she found herself calling his name. He stopped and turned.

"Stay safe." She saw the squint of his eyes but he nodded nonetheless.

He then left.

* * *

"Hey, hey, how 'bout you shut up and let me do my job, yeah?" Claire interrupted Jordi as he tried explaining the importance of her getting the job done. "You said it yourself, in and out."

He scoffed on the other end of the line, "Yeah, well, why do I feel like there's gonna be a fuck up?"

"Please," she coughed, "have some faith in me."

"Just don't die." She chuckled as he spoke, looking at the building in front of her.

"I won't." The line then went dead. She closed her phone and shoved it in her bag.

She sighed then walked towards the abandoned apartment building, the cold weather only adding to the eeriness of the building. She wondered how someone could hide in that building as the winter was slowly setting in Chicago, the first snow having fallen down a few days prior. It took her a while before figuring out a way in but as she did she easily slipped inside the building quietly. It was dark although night hadn't fallen yet.

She walked through the empty and broken down halls, slowly making her way around the building. She hoped Jordi's information was right, because Claire was not in the mood to play around. She wasn't up for trying to find the needle in the haystack. She'd nearly been working non-stop for Jordi in the last three weeks that had passed, although he still gave her as much time for her arm to heal.

Claire hadn't seen Aiden in the last three weeks. It had been odd seeing him that often but even odder not seeing him at all. She'd found it hard admitting to herself that she missed him, especially since the last few times she'd seen him had been particularly awkward times. Claire was not going to lie and say she'd forgotten about the kiss, both of them. She remembered quite clearly, she simply preferred not mentioning it. Her stomach always turned every time she remembered him kissing her and her kissing him back. She hadn't thought it would have happened but it had.

Claire shook her head and stopped, the low sound of the floor creaking causing her to be alarmed and on prepared. She listened and waited, waited for the creaking to repeat itself as it would indicate her with its direction. It then repeated itself for a full three steps before stopping again. She flinched every time she took a step, the old building working against her. Catching a shadow from the corner of her eyes she headed in that direction, hoping to catch the man she needed to catch. As she headed down the hall she looked from room to room, clearing all of them one by one.

As she reached the last few rooms she knew there couldn't be any other place on that floor that this person could hide. If he would have attempted to go up the stairs he would have gone right past her and as she obviously had not seen anyone, it was a fair assumption that Claire was making that he would be in one of the last few rooms. As she approached the last room on the left she slowly raised her gun, not completely bringing it up but ready enough in case of any unwanted encounter. The door was left open but just slightly, causing her to approach with caution.

With the gun in one hand and the other one slowly reaching to push the door open, Claire mentally gave herself the push she needed to open the door. As she did she felt someone grip her arm harshly, causing her to hiss and to raise her gun as she fired one shot, missing her target. She was thrown against the wall and came in contact with it hard, grunting as her body slid down the wall. She felt her gun slip from her hand and unto the floor. Her chest heaved, attempting to catch her breath. Her back ached from the impact of it on the wooden wall and so did her head. Her eyes were closed, dreading whatever was awaiting her if she opened them. She heard the person shift around and she opened her eyes, her head down.

And from the corner of her eyes she caught the figure of a body lying limp on the floor. Her eyes roamed up the arm of the body and recognized the tattoo inked on it. Her chest tightened as her eyes roamed the floor and slowly her hand searched for the gun, knowing its proximity. She sent one last look at the body on the floor, finally realizing that someone else had killed him. And then she looked up.

* * *

_It is here! After a long, long time. I deeply apologize for being such a bad person and not posting earlier but I have a good reason. I started University a little over a month ago and haven't had that much time to do anything else other than adjust and work on school work. Being an English major, you can understand I have lots of readings and essays. But here I am! I want to say thank you to my intellectual soulmate, MissAlisterCroft, for helping me every single time I write a chapter. Always giving me inspiration. _

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave constructive comments, I love them! I always look to improve. No bashing, because if you don't like then just don't read. _

_I'm already jumping on writing the next one which should be interesting. Hint: full chapter on the same two characters. _

_Until next time! R&R! _


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